Strange and Beautiful
by Raz
Summary: AU. YAOI. LeonxCloud. Investigating rumours of Wychcraft, Leon is forced to admit some home truths when he encounters a bewitching blond in deep trouble.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMERS: Not mine. Never going to be mine and I'm not making any profit from it. 

WARNINGS: This contains romantic relationships between two males. If you don't like that concept then I'm assuming you're mature enough to simply click on the back button and find something that is to your taste. It's a dull world when we all have the same interests after all.

This is set in the same universe as the oneshot Wychcraft. This is the prequel that explains a little more about that particular episode and though it's not necessary to have read that first, you are more than welcome to read it while waiting for the next part of this. That one's got the smut in, this one is (supposedly) plot-driven.

**

* * *

Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)**

"Hey fearless leader, you seen the news lately?"

Leon paused in the entrance way to the somewhat seedy looking bar, his blue-grey gaze instantly honing in on the blond man in the white trenchcoat who was leaning back against the bar with his usual arrogant expression. Ignoring the mocking tone in Seifer's voice, Leon took another step inside the building and allowed the door to swing closed behind him. It banged closed, taking with it the only bit of natural light that was to be seen in the place. Dull lamps hung from the burgundy painted walls and perched on the dark wood tables, but were not really enough to lift the sense of gloom. The interior felt like it was perpetually midnight; hence it's obvious appeal to the inebriated souls that populated it despite the fact that it was a little after ten in the morning. The air was thick with smoke and the building clearly lacked any air conditioning or proper ventilation causing the atmosphere to feel far too warm and heavy for comfort. Leon wasn't surprised that Seifer had asked to meet him here; the man was obviously hoping to piss Leon off.

Instead of reacting to his surroundings at all past removing the mirrored sunglasses he had been wearing against the glare of the sun outside, Leon gracefully made his way towards the bar and glanced briefly in the blond's direction. "Seifer." Catching the eye of the bartender, Leon nodded towards the Scotch and silently accepted the amber liquid in a squat glass complete with a couple of ice cubes. They clinked against the glass and each other as Leon took a drink.

Another glance at the man beside him showed that Seifer was still waiting for an answer to his earlier question. Leon idly tilted the glass as he replied. "And what news would that be?"

"It seems Time Compression threw us a few more surprises than a few extra continents."

Leon gave a snort, still focused on the forming beads of condensation on the outside of his glass. One slowly made its way down to run across his finger before swiftly disappearing along his hand in a trail of coldness. "Really," Leon stated flatly before sipping at the alcohol once more. He let the Scotch linger in his mouth for a moment before swallowing as he considered Seifer's words.

The Time Compression brought about by Ultimecia had come perilously close to destroying their world altogether. But what Leon and his companions had not realised at the time was that the Compression hadn't only dissolved the barriers between Past, Present and Future, but for a few short moments had brought their world close to merger with a host of other realities. And a few short moments in Time Compression can count for an awful lot when one of those other realities is about to be wiped out by a falling meteor.

The SeeDs' attempt to save their world had coincided with a similar attempt on that other world so like and yet unlike their own. But the method employed on that other world seemed to have pierced realities and brought the inhabitants to a place where Jenova would not threaten them. Leon and the others had emerged from Time Compression to find several new landmasses where before there had been only sea. The merger was more or less a smooth one, the new continents seeming to possess a similar state of technology, but it had had the side effect of destroying the ability to call on Guardian Forces. Draw points were no more, something apparently attributed to what was referred to as The Lifestream by denizens of the New World Continents. It appeared that the loss of magic was the cost for saving not just their world, but this other one that had become theirs as well.

Beside him, Seifer didn't seem to mind Leon's lack of apparent interest. The blond was more than used to dealing with the taciturn man. Shifting his position against the bar to allow him to reach inside his coat, Seifer produced a small leaflet which he placed on the wooden bar surface beside Leon's drink. "Seems magic isn't as extinct as we thought."

Leon glanced down at the paper, noting that it came from the New World Continent. He didn't get past the first line before snorting dismissively. "What's this, after sorceresses are they? There aren't any left now that Rinoa's gone; SeeD would know."

Seifer snorted. "Where does it mention sorceresses? This doesn't have anything to do with them."

Frowning, Leon looked away from the leaflet to the man beside him. "Witches, sorceresses: seems like they got their terminology confused," he said before pushing the paper back towards the blond. "And their spelling. Wych went out of fashion when they introduced the dictionary."

Seifer rolled his eyes. "How did someone as dense as you ever get put in charge of Balamb Garden," he asked the pub in general before sneering at the chestnut haired man. "This 'Wych' phenomenon is something new. And mostly found amongst men hence the decision not to use the traditional spelling. It's not wise to question the gender of a man still capable of raining down magic on you."

Leon pulled the paper back and began to read it more closely. "What?"

Seifer laughed, low and in the back of his throat. "Thought that might get your attention. It seems that being deprived of a Guardian Force hasn't stopped some people from being able to work magic. Not on the scale of sorceresses of course, but enough for this group to start paying attention and removing those individuals from where they could cause damage to the general populace."

"Organisation XIII," Leon read aloud. He paused to search his memories. "I've never heard of them before, are they from the New World Continents?"

"Not really," Seifer admitted. "They're based in Hollow Bastion; that huge fortress that the NWCs are swearing blind never used to be sat right in the middle of Midgar. They claim to be to wyches what SeeD were to sorceresses." Seifer paused a moment before adding; "They also claim SeeD are now defunct and little more than mercenaries who need to recognise their place in this new world order."

Leon took a gulp of Scotch, draining the glass of the alcohol and allowing the ice cubes to fall against his teeth before sending them back to the bottom of the glass. He pushed his now consumed drink away from him as he turned to face the blond. "Why are you telling me this?"

Seifer paused for a moment, searching Leon's face for a moment before dropping to Leon's now empty glass. Seifer's face relaxed into its familiar smirk and the blond pushed himself away from the bar. "It never hurts to be aware of these things, does it? Be seeing you around Squall."

"It's Leon," the dark haired man replied, half to himself as he watched Seifer exit the bar. Turning back to his empty glass, Leon blinked to find his ice cubes now little more than a half-finger of water in the bottom of the glass. With a sigh, Leon took the hint to leave himself and fished out his sunglasses before stepping outside.

* * *

A fortnight later saw Leon stepping out into the bustling streets of Midgar. The city had been almost destroyed not long ago and the reconstruction work was both extensive and intense. Every street seemed to be in the midst of some sort of rebuilding programme and inwardly Leon was amazed that the scaffolding didn't do more to impede the swarms of human traffic that thronged through the avenues and alleyways. Allowing himself to be jostled through the main thoroughfares, Leon examined his surroundings and tried to work out just why he'd let a brief conversation with Seifer influence his thoughts so much that this trip had seemed necessary.

In truth, it was probably not so much that initial conversation as the amount of information Leon had discovered after it. SeeD had always been more than enough to keep Leon's attention fully engaged, but even he was able to admit that lately they had been functioning as little more than glorified mercenaries. And while it was a nice enough change of pace in the immediate aftermath of Ultimecia, it was leaving Leon with increasing amounts of free time. The training centre could only occupy so many hours of that and rather than be forced into socialising, Leon had taken to casual research of the New World Continents, Organisation XIII and the so-called Wych phenomenon.

What Leon hadn't realised was that although knowledge of this apparent wychcraft was only just making its way to the ears of those who had suffered under sorceresses, it was regarded as an increasingly widespread problem in the NWCs. They had never used junctioning or Guardian Forces, relying on a more direct form of magical power which was refined from a source called the Lifestream into Mako and then items known as Materia. It was at this point that Leon had first happened across mentions of the SOLDIER programme, which had seemed to bear remarkable parallels to SeeD in the sense of creating a superior fighting force. The differences were that SOLDIER were loyal to one particular company and that they were apparently exposed to this Mako in order to enhance their abilities. But following their integration into the world Leon was familiar with, SOLDIER had been rather hurriedly disbanded and use of Materia had been banned. It seemed to draw out dormant magic powers. What had happened to those in the SOLDIER programme, Leon could find no mention. That intrigued him as much as it disturbed him.

And so he had made his way to Midgar, site of the former headquarters of Shinra. The idea was that by digging around the company responsible for SOLDIER Leon might discover just why all mention of them had been ruthlessly repressed. In truth the experimentation angle of the programme put Leon's teeth on edge. There had been aspects of SeeD training that had come very close to brainwashing and Leon found it only too easy to believe that had he been raised on the NWCs, he would have probably become part of the SOLDIER programme himself.

At one point, Midgar had been comprised of two levels with the wealthy living on raised plates above the slums. The disaster that had all but decimated the city had destroyed these plates (though Leon had heard talk that said one plate at least had been deliberately collapsed in a terrorist attack) and for now at least, the bulk of the city was on one level. The intense construction had yet to progress beyond ground level. Despite that, Leon found his attention continually drawn to the arching freeways and frameworks that would eventually hold new plates. It was less for the technical marvel than due to his SeeD instincts. Leon was being watched.

And not in the same sense of those curious stares that the substantial scar slicing across his nose and forehead always seemed to draw. The eyes that Leon felt following his every movement were more appraising, and no doubt drawn to him by more than mere idle curiosity; otherwise Leon felt confident that his observer would have lost interest by now in the random wanderings of a tourist to Midgar. So instead Leon wondered just what his watcher was waiting for. Was there something they were waiting for him to do?

Leon had never been much of a fan of guessing games: of games of any kind really. He therefore had little intention of indulging the viewing stranger with anything that could be considered interesting, noteworthy or suspicious. Rather than continue along the street, Leon decided to find a reasonably priced hotel where he could plan his movements.

A short way up ahead was a street vendor selling hotdogs and talking up a storm as he tried to convince the masses of human traffic to buy his snacks. The loud, non-stop chatter combined with the smell of cooking sausage abruptly reminded Leon of Zell who was no doubt currently attempting to eat as many hotdogs as humanly possible in Balamb's cafeteria. Leon approached the middle-aged man and pulled out some change from his pocket. "I'll take one."

The vendor cut off in mid-spiel to turn to Leon. "Certainly!" the man replied before seeming to momentarily pause as his eyes took in Leon's face and froze when they reached his forehead. The man then blinked and silently handed Leon his hotdog.

Inwardly raising an eyebrow at the sudden difference in the man's demeanour, Leon handed over the payment and decided not to acknowledge the strange reaction. "This is my first time in Midgar and I'm trying to find my way to a hotel. Do you…" Leon trailed off as the man turned away from him the moment Leon had paid for the food. Even now, the vendor was resolutely ignoring Leon, not even gracing him with a look.

Leon blinked before he narrowed his eyes and turned to head back into the flow of traffic. Clearly that man was going to find repeat custom difficult with such an unhelpful attitude. Still no matter, Leon decided as he bit into his hotdog. He could easily get some directions from someone else. Finishing off the hotdog, Leon looked around for another likely target.

An elderly lady was sat in a doorway, smoking on a pipe and occasionally nodding regally to the passing pedestrians. Clearly a local, Leon decided as he made his way towards her. Actually going to the effort of schooling his features into a polite and enquiring expression, Leon clearly his throat. "Excuse me, could you help me?"

"Yes dear?" the old woman mumbled as she turned her face up to look at Leon. The hand that had been tapping out the pipe abruptly stilled as she stared up into Leon's face before hurriedly turning back to stare at the street.

Not to be put off, Leon ploughed on regardless. "All I need are directions to a hotel nearby," he said, edging to the side so that he remained in the woman's line of sight.

The woman clenched the pipe tightly between her teeth and began to puff at it with single minded determination that was echoed in her refusal to look anywhere other than the middle-distance. Leon persisted for a while longer, but eventually recognised the fact that there was no way even he could compete against seventy something years of ignoring undesirables. With a shrug, Leon set off in search of someone who, after no doubt gawking at his scar for a moment or two, would still be capable of answering a couple of basic questions.

Four thwarted attempts later and Leon's frustration and bafflement were in equal measures. Having spent much of his time in Balamb wishing people would simply leave him alone, Leon was really expecting himself to be a little more able to deal with the fact that in Midgar, no one wanted to so much as be seen exchanging small talk with him. Leon couldn't understand it. If not friendly then he'd at least managed to remain polite. He wasn't carrying a visible weapon that could result in him being seen as threatening. There was no explanation that he could think of for the way everyone seemed bound and determined to ignore him. Apart from a morbid fear of facial scars that was, and somehow Leon doubted that would be the case.

Perhaps that was what led him into the entranceway of the bar. The actual bar itself appeared to be located up a short flight of stairs and Leon made his way up reasoning that a place as rundown as this seemed from the exterior could hardly afford to turn down custom. And maybe waving some cash in a bartender's face would finally get him some directions.

The stairs led him into a bar that was pleasant enough, if not for the fact that it was sorely lacking in patrons. A row of windows provided ample light to illuminate the numerous empty tables and stools that were placed in front of the bar. Standing behind the bar was a young and slender man dressed in a black suit with the most shocking red hair Leon had ever seen. It had been pulled into a long ponytail down the man's back and he was idly tossing an empty tumbler from hand to hand under the disapproving glare of a second man. At least, Leon assumed the glare was disapproving, the second man's eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but it seemed a reasonable enough guess from the set of his much bulkier frame. As the redhead tossed the glass, light would glance off its surface and shimmer along the taller man's shaven head, giving the dark skin a similar gleam to the equally dark-stained wood of the room. The taller man also wore a black suit, implying a uniform.

As Leon stepped further into the bar, both men's attention was drawn to him. The redhead abruptly ceased to play with the glass and his companion shifted his weight slightly, crossing his substantial arms across an equally substantial chest.

Turning to face Leon, the redhead revealed a smirking face with two red tattoos under each eye to echo the spikes that framed his face. "Sorry man," the redhead said in a tone just short of mocking. "We ain't selling alcohol right now." As before the redhead's eyes seemed to catch on Leon's scar, but the only discernable result was a widening of the smirk.

Leon shrugged. "It's not alcohol I came in here for. I just want directions."

The redhead raised an eyebrow as he set the glass down with exaggerated care. "Down the stairs, turn right and keep on walking until you hit open ground," he said.

Leon blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Fastest way out of Midgar," the second man offered in a deep voice that lacked the self-satisfied tones of his companion's.

Leon's eyes narrowed. "I have no intention of leaving Midgar at the moment," he replied. "I'm looking for a hotel."

"Well, that's going to be a problem, see? 'Cause there ain't no hotel that's going to give you a room," The first man leaned over the bar, towards Leon and let his eyes deliberately linger on the scar. "You're the wrong sort."

With a frown Leon's hand twitched towards his forehead before he caught the gesture and forced the limb to remain at his side. "Because of my scar? What the hell does my scar prove?"

The two men exchanged a look before the smaller redhead turned back to Leon, his manner now appraising. "You'll be from the Sorceress Continents I'm guessing. Never ventured over to chat with survivors of Jenova until now."

Warily Leon inclined his head in a small nod.

Another look was exchanged between the pair behind the bar. "So just how much do you know about Wychcraft over on that side of the planet?" the redhead asked idly.

"Not much," Leon admitted. "That's part of the reason I'm here."

"Scoring above the breath," the dark-skinned man suddenly pronounced causing his companion to roll his eyes and turn on the larger man with a burst of temper.

"I was just getting to that bit!" Spinning back to face Leon, the redhead nodded towards Leon's scar. "It's what they do to wyches to break their power. They cut them above the mouth and nose and make the poor bastard bleed. Anyone lays eyes on you and they see someone who was investigated for being a wych." Straightening up the man gave Leon a smile that was neither reassuring nor sympathetic. "So it's probably best for you to toddle off home now."

"Reno, what did I tell you about scaring away the customers?" The feminine voice that came from the entranceway of the bar was tinged with exasperation.

Reno's gaze darted over towards the new speaker before he focused on Leon and smirked once more. "He's not a customer."

"Aren't I?" Leon challenged, seizing the chance to extract a little payback on the obnoxious man. "It's not as though I was able to order anything when your opening words to me were to say you were closed."

A sigh from just over Leon's shoulder, quickly followed by the sound of footsteps as the newcomer strode into the bar. "Just serve him Reno."

"Whisky, hold the ice," Leon told Reno, enjoying the irritated look on the redhead's features as he went about pouring the drink. The awareness of a presence beside him made Leon turn and examine the newcomer.

His first thoughts, bizarrely enough, were that Rinoa must have had a twin sister somewhere. Then he noticed that the dark eyes were a touch more almond-shaped and that the long dark hair lacked those bronze-tipped highlights that Rinoa's always acquired in the sun. Plus the young woman was probably a couple of years older too. Leon couldn't help but notice the lithely muscled frame and leather gloves that she was currently peeling off her hands and mentally added 'martial artist' to his list of first impressions. The young woman smiled at Leon, the expression flickering briefly as her eyes noticed the scar. Unlike anyone else previously though, the sight of his injury seemed to make her smile return more strongly than before. She stretched out a hand to him. "Tifa Lockhart."

"Leon," he returned as he enclosed her hand briefly before letting go.

Tifa's eyebrow quirked slightly. "My, the two of you really are similar," she muttered, clearly to herself. Then she turned another pleasant smile on Leon as she nimbly made her way behind the bar and started fixing a drink for herself as well. "Consider your whisky on the house," she told Leon. "A reward for having to put up with Reno."

"Hey," Reno began, his forehead crinkling in displeasure. "Who's been looking after this place for the last two days?"

"How many people have you actually served in that time?" Tifa shot back.

Reno looked abashed, a fact not helped by the way the man behind suddenly seemed to be finding it hard to keep a straight face. Becoming aware of the fact that he was not receiving support from his colleague, Reno rounded on the taller man. "Hey, she's insulting you too."

"I didn't ask Rude to serve customers while I was away," Tifa informed the redhead as she sipped at her own drink.

Rude inclined his head. "I was to keep an eye on you," he told Reno.

The redhead rolled his eyes, clearly far from happy from the lack of faith in his abilities.

Turning her attention away from the double act beside her, Tifa studied Leon over the rim of her glass. "So I'm guessing you've been brought to Midgar by all these rumours Organisation XIII's been putting out about there being wyches in our midst," she said carefully.

Leon nodded, not seeing the point in denying it. "Word has just begun to reach our continents," he told the brunette. "A friend suggested it would be worth me looking into." Leon paused to take a gulp of whisky, letting the alcohol roll around his mouth for a few moments as he considered his next words. "I thought it was a reoccurrence of the Sorceress Phenomenon, but this seems to be something else entirely."

"Oh yes, Sorceresses," Tifa murmured. "I'd heard about that. Isn't there a group dedicated to fighting them?"

"SeeD," Leon confirmed. "We played a major role in stopping Ultimecia's plans of Time Compression."

Tifa leaned back, moving away from Leon as she placed her glass on the counter. "So you're one of them. Are you planning to start hunting wyches too then?"

Leon shook his head. "I don't even know what these so-called wyches are. They could be nothing more than Knights." Seeing Tifa's blank look, Leon explained. "When a Sorceress comes into her powers, she appoints a Knight. He has to protect her, keep her safe and in return he receives power."

Tifa's eyes gleamed with something for a moment, but her expression remained neutral. "Sounds like a good deal," she said carefully.

Leon shrugged. "Some people sought it out. It didn't matter. You don't really get a choice in the matter." A brief frown pinched Leon's eyebrows together. "At the time you don't question the bond, but if you break free of it … you start to see just how insidious it was. Controlling your actions, your thoughts…"

"Not pleasant," Tifa murmured. "I've heard of something like it … but not associated with this wychcraft rubbish."

"So what can you tell me about this wychcraft problem?" Leon asked.

Tifa exhaled noisily, placing her hands flat on the bar in front of her and stretching her back away from it before straightening once more. "I don't know what causes it, if there is any actual cause. This whole craze could be nothing more than a group of people exploiting fears to control the population and eliminate any opposition to their dominance." She shot the two men a quick look out of the corner of her eye. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Hey…" Reno started.

"Anyway," Tifa quickly continued, cutting off the rest of Reno's objection mid-flow. "Organisation XIII went after SOLDIER first. They'd been exposed to Mako as part of their training after all and the Organisation seized on this. Said it had polluted their bodies and in some cases triggered latent abilities. Wychcraft. Seeing as the normal populace couldn't access the Lifestream anymore and Materia use was banned, there was apparently no way to combat these wyches."

"Unless you were a member of Organisation XIII?" Leon guessed.

Tifa grinned and made a shooting gesture with her right hand. "Bingo." Her smile dropped slowly as the brunette paused. "SOLDIER didn't have the best reputation after Jenova. So no one complained too much when they were all more or less rounded up and carted off to Hollow Bastion. But then they started finding more wyches and got everyone all stirred up about the thought of powerful, crazed magic-wielders in their midst."

"I've noticed," Leon said wryly.

"A lot of it is superstition that should have died out centuries ago," Tifa confessed. "I suppose that's why it's taken hold so quickly. People are starting to think there's truth in old wives' tales after all." She paused. "The main thing is that wyches are apparently able to generate limitless quantities of magic. They simply don't run out of spells or power. They also say that wyches can send that power into another chosen creature, like a cat or a dog and use that animal as an extension of their will. The Organisation are calling these animals Wychkin; saying that even if you catch and disable the wych, if you let the wychkin within eyesight of its owner, the animal can conduct spells on the wych's behalf."

"So that's the cover story," Leon said. "What do you really think is going on?"

Tifa opened her mouth to respond, but frowned and closed it again. After a few moments she met Leon's eyes and shrugged. "I don't know. But it all seems pretty suspicious, don't you think?"

Those were Leon's thoughts exactly.

* * *

The daylight had given way to the onset of evening when Leon left the bar once again. Tifa had offered to let him stay in one of the rooms attached to the bar and Leon had accepted her offer. The young dark-haired woman had confirmed Reno's statement from earlier that due to Leon's scar, he was unlikely to find anywhere willing to offer him a room. The attitude towards those even suspected of being a wych had disturbed Leon and he didn't want to leave until he had discovered more about the current situation. In addition, the circumstances under which SOLIDER had disappeared were far from reassuring. Leon had little doubt that Organisation XIII were going to turn their attentions to the continents he'd grown up with sooner or later and that when they did, SeeD would be their first line of attack.

In other words, it seemed that Seifer had been on to something when he called Leon's attention to that leaflet. Now Leon intended to discover as much as possible about these so-called wyches and Organisation XIII before SeeD ended up in direct confrontation with them.

Taking Tifa's advice, Leon had waited until night to venture out again as he was clearly going to achieve very little when his scar was prominently displayed in the bright daylight. To further provide a bit more camouflage, Tifa had also presented Leon with a hooded cloak that she told him to switch for his leather jacket.

Leon had raised a sceptical eyebrow at the garment. "It's not exactly discreet, is it? Won't I just attract more attention?"

Tifa shook her head. "The hood'll hide your scar. Plus you won't be the only one wearing one of these. As long as you just intend to observe people, it'll be fine. No one will confront you."

Behind her, Reno took a break in chewing on a cocktail stick to nod in agreement. "Lady knows her stuff. And if anyone gets close; mutter something about reunions. That'll scare 'em off sharpish."

Leon didn't get the reference, but accepted the cloak nevertheless.

He was glad for it now. He was still avoided by the crowds who would not even make eye-contact with him as they carried on with their business, but unlike before, the reaction didn't seem to be out of fear. Cloaked Leon was simply some sort of non-entity. Once the surprise had given way, Leon soon saw the advantages to this. He could eavesdrop with impunity as no one saw the need to change their conversations or even drop their voices as he moved amongst them. Leon wondered who exactly usually wore these cloaks to have generated this response, but figured it was probably something unique to these continents and the Jenova survivors.

Leon did see another figure wearing a robe just like his, sitting motionless in an abandoned doorway. He was tempted to approach the figure and see just what he was unwittingly impersonating, but decided against it. He didn't want the figure to call attention to the fact that he was a fake and there was no telling whether the figure would respond positively to anything intruding on his privacy.

The increasing whine of an approaching motorcycle swiftly diverted his attention, especially when the slightly lower tones of another two engines joined the sound of the first. Moving to one side, Leon looked down the rapidly clearing street to where a black shape was growing in size.

The motorcycle was a hulking black beast of a machine, the engine snarling like a wolf as it shot through the centre of the densely populated walkway with no regard to the pedestrians who were hurriedly diving for cover. The rider was dressed in black and seemed to blend into the motorcycle as he hunched over to gain more speed, his eyes hidden behind shaded goggles and blonde hair whipping back from his face. He flew past Leon so quickly that it was purely down to Leon's training that he'd managed to catch that much detail and then there was nothing more than the fading red glow of a taillight.

His pursuers followed mere moments later; their bikes equally bulky, but lacking the sleek shine of the first. Even though Leon had been able to notice little more than a collection of impressions about the first rider, any chance of even that amount of detail about these two followers would be futile. Both riders were dressed in form-fitting black from head to toe with their faces completely obscured beneath black helmets with tinted visors. They hurtled past, clearly focused on nothing other than catching the blond motorcyclist.

Leon stared after them for a few moments, wondering what the hell that had been about. As conversation around him began to resume, it became clear that none of the people around the SeeD commander were going to mention the chase. Realising that this was simply yet another addition to the list of things requiring explanations, Leon decided to give up for the night and return to Tifa's Seventh Heaven bar. With any luck the place wouldn't be too crowded and Leon could mull over his options in relative peace and quiet. And he could also get rid of this stupid robe and just leave his hair to conceal the bulk of his scar.

It was a short walk back and uncomplicated by further high speed chases. Leon simply moved through the crowds with ease, the people seeming to part before him rather than risk colliding with his cloaked form and then needing to rely on eye contact and the possibility of a dialogue. Leon didn't have too much of a problem with this, seizing the opportunity to be left alone and not waylaid every five minutes by giggling girls as he was back home in Balamb.

Leon shrugged off the robe on the deserted stairway up to the bar and shook his head briefly to cause his hair to fall across his face. He took a moment to reflect that it was no wonder Seifer hadn't made his way to Midgar; the blond would have been totally unable to conceal his own scar with the short and slicked back hair style Seifer preferred. Leon found that quietly amusing, not least in memory of all the 'girly' taunts Seifer had mocked Leon's longer hair with.

Entering the bar, Leon saw that while busy, it was not packed enough to make finding somewhere quiet to sit impossible. Rude and Reno were still behind the bar, along with a petite brunette that Leon hadn't seen before who was arguing fiercely with a customer sat by the bar, a middle-aged man with a cigarette hanging out of one corner of his mouth. Tifa was nowhere in sight.

With a nod to Reno who spotted Leon almost as soon as he entered the room, Leon kept to the shadowed edges of the bar as he made his way over to an empty table in the far corner. Taking a seat, Leon let himself blend into the shadows around him as he studied the crowd. It seemed to be a good mix of people, though there were obviously a few regulars: the man at the bar being one. There was also an incredibly burly man with skin a couple of shades darker than Rude's and what looked like a mechanical arm clearly feeling very at home as he sat in a booth with a young boy and girl, neither of whom looked anything like him or were older than ten. While the kids drank what Leon sincerely hoped was nothing more than coke through colourful straws, the man was deep in conversation with the passing Reno and often appeared seconds away from throttling the suited redhead. Sat on the girl's lap was a large stuffed black and white cat wearing a crown and for a moment, Leon could have sworn he saw the toy enter into the argument.

Shaking his head and reflecting that the day was obviously getting to him, Leon felt his skin prickle abruptly. Someone was watching him. Looking away from the group in the corner, Leon let his eyes scan across the people in the room. No one was immediately visible as the culprit and Leon's eyes narrowed as he found his attention drawn to the opposite corner of the room. There was someone else standing there, right at the corner of the bar, though there was not enough light to get a good look. All Leon could tell was that the figure had striking blue eyes that almost seemed to glow in the shadows.

"Um hi! You're Leon, right? Tifa told me about you."

Jolted back to full attention, Leon looked up to find the pale brunette from the bar standing by his table and smiling. Unable to apparently keep still, she was subtly bouncing on the balls of her feet where she stood and tapping a pencil against the small pad of paper she carried. Something about her was reminding Leon strongly of Selphie and therefore ringing loud warning bells in his head.

Not letting any of this show, Leon inclined his head to confirm his identity and watched as the girl's grin grew to stop just shy of demonic. "Well hello! I'm Yuffie, the greatest ninja and material-hunter on this planet!" She struck a brief pose before dropping back into her previous stance. "Well, I was until material was banned so as you can imagine my job fell through. Now I help Tifa out around here when needed. Oh and annoy Cid, of course."

Leon thought it probably best to simply nod again. "Where is Tifa?"

Clearly not expecting Leon to speak, Yuffie jumped and fumbled the pencil she had been twirling through her fingers. "Oh! Uh … Tifa got called away kind of suddenly, but she should be back soon." Turning towards the bar, Yuffie continued. "See? There she is. Umm, if it's okay with you, I should probably check on her. Uh … did you want something to drink?"

"Whisky," Leon said. "But there's no rush."

Yuffie beamed at him before springing back towards the bar. Leon watched her go, noticing how the sunny demeanour was replaced by worry as she engaged an equally strained looking Tifa in conversation. The man at the bar, Rude and Reno were all obviously listening in and chipped in with a few comments each. Then the group separated and Reno promptly went over to talk to the large man from earlier once again. Leon mused that what had drawn Tifa away earlier had to be of major interest to her associates and wondered what it could have been. Possibly someone in her family was ill, though judging by the concern of those around her, it was more likely to be a mutual friend of everyone gathered there. They seemed like such a disparate group that Leon wondered how they'd all come to be so close. Unlike his own group of friends who were all roughly the same age and had been brought together by SeeD, Tifa's circle had a wide variety of ages and backgrounds.

Once again Leon's attention was drawn away as he realised he was being watched again. His eyes immediately went to the darkened part of the bar from earlier. Some sixth sense told Leon that he was being watched by the same person as earlier and Leon leaned forwards slightly in the hope of being able to see the figure more clearly. Tifa made her way down to that corner and Leon's vision was blocked as the young woman spoke to the figure in the shadows for a few moments. She clearly wasn't happy, if the hands on hips pose was any indication and even less so when she threw her hands up a few moments later and marched off back to where Reno was being bullied mercilessly by Yuffie to the silent amusement of Rude. As Tifa moved away, the person she'd been speaking to shifted and Leon found himself locking gazes with those strange, blue eyes.

This time though, Leon could actually see a little of the owner of those eyes. Leon's observer was a young man who was probably a couple of years younger than Leon himself. He was pale, a fact not helped by the black clothes he wore over his skinny frame which only served to emphasise the young man's pallor and make him look ill. There were dark circles under those distinctive eyes that lent further weight to the ill observation. Blond hair sprang away from his face in spikes that made him look like someone had shot him with a bolt of Thunder, though the final effect seemed to suit him well enough. The man was watching Leon intently, a mix of puzzlement and some other emotion on his fine-boned features.

The blond man began to make his way towards the table at which Leon sat, seemingly unaware of the people around him or the commotion that was forming behind him when Tifa noticed that the blond was wandering through the crowded bar. His steps were slightly unsteady, and without realising that he was moving at all, Leon found himself rising from the table and moving to meet the man halfway. As Leon got closer, the blond swayed, his eyes breaking away from Leon's gaze to roll back in his head. Leon all but ran the last few steps as the man pitched forwards to be caught by Leon.

Even unconscious, the blond stranger was frowning and Leon could feel warmth seeping from the man where his body was in contact with Leon's own. Looking around for help, Leon saw Tifa and the smoking man from the bar hurrying over. "Is there somewhere he can rest?" Leon asked Tifa. "He seems to have a fever."

Tifa's face was creased with concern, but she seemed to be keeping her emotions well under control as she nodded decisively and beckoned Leon to follow her. "We'll move him into one of the rooms at the back. Can you carry him or would you like Cid to lend a hand?"

Leon looked at the man from the bar and shook his head. "I can manage," he said as he shifted the blond into his arms. Even through the leather gloves he wore, Leon could feel the heat of the blond's body and quietly wondered just how someone so seriously ill managed to even walk halfway across the bar.

They made their way to a darkened room at the back, Tifa taking the lead as she snapped on the light. "Can you just lay him on the bed? I can check him over in a minute."

Aware that he was being removed from the situation, Leon nodded obediently. The room was small and contained only the single bed and a small, wooden chest of drawers so there was little difficulty in manoeuvring the unconscious man onto the bed. As Leon lowered the blond, the man's head rolled slightly, bringing his cheek to rest into the hollow where Leon's neck met his collarbone.

At the contact with the man's bare skin, Leon felt a spark of what must have been static electricity. The shock made him all but drop the blond the last few inches onto the bed, a gesture that Tifa luckily didn't catch. Straightening hurriedly, Leon pressed his hand to the place that still tingled and turned to leave the room. He nodded politely at Tifa on his way out and headed straight for the bar where he caught Reno's eye and signalled for a whisky.

The rest of the night Leon sat nursing his whisky and trying to work out why his skin still tingled with the after-effects of that jolt of static electricity and also why he suddenly felt so tired.

TBC

Author's Notes: I don't know how widespread the knowledge of scoring above the breath is outside of the British Isles as even here it was rarely performed outside of England. It was a popular belief though and there are numerous examples of suspected witches being attacked by their victims in an attempt to break curses cast on them. Although there will be elements of the mediæval superstitions in this, I'm mainly going to be using those from the Tudor period onwards as that's always been more interesting to me and of course, there are so many more cases of witch trials and so on that have survived. Some of the wider known stuff about trials etc may turn up in this, but I've always found the less well known traditions much more interesting.

And this does fit into Kingdom Hearts. The next part should hopefully show that it's less a fusion of Final Fantasy VII and VIII than Kingdom Hearts, but I'm just taking care to explain the setting before I go messing with it even more. Sora and Riku have yet to make an appearance, but they will do at some point.


	2. Chapter 2

I must confess I really like this universe. And Cloud'll actually speak this part. He's a little angsty at the moment, but he's got some issues to work through. He'll get over the emo-crap soon enough because I can't write angst for shit. It's the only downside to being British.

**Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You)**

Leon was awoken from an uneasy sleep filled with vague images of eerie blue eyes by the sound of voices. Blinking to clear the last few thoughts of glowing eyes, Leon immediately frowned at the temperature in his room. It was absolutely freezing. The condensation on the inside of the window had crystallised and his breath from small clouds of dissipating warmth. Leon threw off the sheets and began to hunt for some clothes, finally pulling on his fur-trimmed leather jacket as a last resort when the chill refused to lift from his skin. Still shivering, Leon left his room and headed in the direction of the voices. He paused at the top of the stairs to glance at the door that stood ajar to his right. He couldn't see the blond from the bar from this angle, but somehow he knew that the other man was still within that room.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Leon paused as the conversation from downstairs drifted up at the sound of heavy footsteps before a door opened below him.

"What the fuck happened to the kid?"

"I don't know, Cid. I haven't had the chance to ask him. He's still sleeping."

"Sleeping? I don't know if you're trying to put a positive slant on things or if you just haven't bothered getting close enough for a good look. Whatever Spikey's doing up there; it ain't sleeping. If it was, he'd had woken up when Yuffie went in to visit him."

"Maybe he was tired, Cid."

"And maybe he's all but fucking comatose. He was half-dead when he dragged himself in here."

At the top of the stairs, Leon paused. He had little desire to descend and interrupt the tense conversation between Tifa and the older man from the bar last night, but equally found being caught eavesdropping a far from desirable start to the morning. He turned slightly and looked back towards the room where the blond man rested.

Before Leon really had a chance to think about his actions, he had crossed to the door. Pushing it open wider, Leon peered into the room, trying to catch sight of its sleeping occupant. He wasn't sure if it was concern for the blond's well-being or simple curiosity, but Leon couldn't deny that there was something that seemed to be compelling him to cross the threshold and step inside the room. Leon looked towards the silent and unmoving shape on the bed and decided he'd just check the man was sleeping peacefully. If he looked like his condition had deteriorated from when Leon had last seen him last night, then Leon would immediately head downstairs and get the blond some help. If he seemed fine, then Leon would obviously have a touch more peace of mind and could continue on his investigations in Midgar without worrying about how the blond was faring.

Leon had barely finished thinking through his reasoning when he found himself beside the bed. Leon paused and glanced around the room, unsure as to just why he seemed to be so absent-minded this morning. A scowl formed, though it was fuelled by worry, not irritation. The last time Leon had felt this out of control regarding his own actions had been with Rinoa. But Rinoa wasn't around anymore and the bond connecting her to Leon had been dissolved years ago. Leon looked down at the sleeping man as his frown deepened. Whatever was going on, he knew that the blond would have some answers. It was just a case of holding on long enough until the other man woke up.

The blond was lying on his back, in virtually the exact same position Leon had left him in. Even though there wasn't even the slightest trace of movement from his sleeping form, the pained expression Leon remembered from last night was still on his face. Leon sat carefully on the edge of the bed as he studied the man more closely for signs of fever. His skin wasn't flushed, but it was unnaturally pale. Leon reached out with one hand and carefully brushed away a couple of the blond spikes that drooped over the man's forehead before resting the back of his hand against the blond's skin to check for a temperature.

As Leon's bare skin came into contact with the other man's forehead, Leon felt another jolt of the static electricity he'd experienced last night. For a moment, he was half-certain he'd seen a blue flash pass from his hand to the blond's forehead. With a low moan, the man on the bed moved slightly, his eyelids flickering.

Leon flinched at the thought that he'd woken the man up from his rest and made to remove his hand from the blond's forehead. He had barely begun to move his hand when another grabbed hold of his own. The blond's hand felt hot, yet the grip was far too firm for Leon to break free. In addition, Leon suddenly felt as though he'd not slept in weeks. Without really being aware of much other than the fact that he needed to rest, Leon's eyes slid closed and he pitched face forward on top of the blond.

"If it's not Cloud passed out cold, then it's this one. Honestly, what would it take to have everyone conscious at the same time around here?"

"Tifa, I don't think shaking him like that is going to help him much."

"If I wanted your opinion Yuffie…"

The worried voices were echoing somewhat painfully in Leon's head, which had decided to develop a colossal migraine while he hadn't been paying attention. In addition, someone had also grabbed a hold of his shoulders and was currently shaking him in much the same fashion one used to air bed linens. Leon felt a low groan of protest emerge from his throat.

"What did you do to him, Cloud?"

"I don't know."

Something about that low voice speaking almost too quietly for Leon to hear sent a jolt through the SeeD Commander. Without being really sure how he suddenly had the energy to open his eyes that had been missing earlier. He was lying in the bed in his room with Tifa and the younger girl from last night watching him closely. Blinking a couple of times to adjust to the light that was pouring in through the window beside the bed, Leon squinted up to better focus on Tifa, who was seated beside him on the bed. She was currently scowling off to her left, but on hearing movement, she glanced down. On seeing Leon awake, her face relaxed with relief. "Oh Holy, you're alright. You had me worried."

Leon nodded slightly as he focused his energy into struggling into a sitting position. For some reason he felt as though he hadn't slept for a week, every part of his body seemed to be screaming with exhaustion. And the cold from earlier had once again settled under his skin. Trying to fight off the shivers that stemmed both from the chill and the continuing tiredness, Leon rubbed at his face. "How long was I asleep?"

"About five hours."

His question was answered by that same soft-spoken voice that had jolted Leon into full alertness. The speaker was stood somewhere to his left and no doubt had been the recipient of Tifa's scowl from earlier. Turning his head, Leon saw the pale blond from the bar last night now awake and standing in the doorway.

The worst of the dark circles had been banished from beneath the blond's strange blue eyes. Even in the brightness of the room, Leon was still half-convinced that the damn things were glowing slightly. The blond narrowed his eyes slightly under Leon's gaze and shifted his weight onto his back foot, ready to flee out into the corridor at a moment's notice. The other man was clearly on edge about something, Leon noted, though he doubted finding the cause would be an easy matter. Normally he would assume the other man was uncomfortable at the thought of waking up to find Leon slumped over him, but Leon had a clear recollection of the way the blond had grabbed onto Leon's hand to hold it in place when Leon had made to move away.

Leon wondered if the blond had shared that fact with the others in the room and decided to test the waters. Inclining his head in a gesture of apology towards the blond, Leon subtly kept his gaze trained on the other man's face. "I'm sorry for passing out like that. I was feeling fine when I came in to check on your fever, but when I went to leave, exhaustion hit me."

The blond looked away, unable to meet Leon's eyes. "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Puts you on an equal footing with Cloud here, at least," Tifa chipped in with a knowing grin as she too watched Cloud's discomfort. "Seeing as he passed out in your arms last night."

There was definitely a vague hint of colour along those high cheekbones, Leon noticed, as Cloud's head dipped even lower and the blond rubbed a nervous hand across the back of his neck. "Oh. Sorry about that."

Leon shrugged off the other man's apology. "It's fine. At least I was there to catch you."

Cloud's head shot up to stare at Leon, possibly out of shock that Leon was letting the opportunity pass without teasing. Leon had a feeling that the two dark-haired females in the room were more than capable of giving Cloud a hard time without him adding to the other man's discomfort. And honestly, Leon really couldn't say he had minded the incident. Despite having a noted low tolerance for intrusion into his personal space and general unsolicited physical contact, nothing about last night or even this morning had caused his temper to flare. Leon wasn't entirely sure why this was, but reasoned it was probably due to the fact that even he, the Ice Prince of Balamb himself, wasn't capable of being a complete arsehole all the time.

Sitting up didn't seem to be causing Leon to feel like he was going to pass out again, so he decided to try standing. As he began to slide out of the bed, Tifa hurriedly stood herself and gave him a smile. "Planning on getting back to your investigations?"

Leon nodded in reply and felt a small guilty twinge at being dismissive towards someone who probably didn't know it was his natural behaviour. His friends back in Balamb were more than used to his behaviour and didn't take it personally when they failed to get much of a response from Leon, but Tifa might feel snubbed or that she had done something wrong. Forcing himself to actually speak his response, Leon shot a brief look in her direction. "I plan on mostly observing people today. Direct interaction didn't work out too well."

Yuffie giggled at that admission. "Did they think you were a wych?"

Leon rolled his eyes and began to hunt through drawers for a warmer shirt. The worst of the chill from earlier had passed, but if he was heading outside, then Leon definitely wanted something thicker under his jacket. Behind him, he heard Tifa shushing Yuffie to little effect as the teenager continued to giggle.

"What are you investigating?"

Leon shivered as he tugged on a loose-knit sweater before turning to answer Cloud. "Organisation XIII. I'm trying to discover if they're more of a threat to SeeD than these so-called wyches."

"Leon's from the Sorceress Continents," Tifa explained to the blond who was now frowning slightly as his gaze switched between Leon and Tifa. "It seems Organisation XIII is looking to stir up trouble over on their half of the planet as well. Leon's over here trying to find out what they're really up to."

Cloud made a small sound of understanding before dropping his gaze to the floor. "I should probably get cleaned up," he muttered as he turned to leave the room. He glanced back briefly over his shoulder at Leon. "Sorry about everything."

Leon frowned, unsure if the other man was still referring to his fainting fit. He watched Cloud leave the room and looked over at Yuffie and Tifa in case either could shed any light on things. Tifa was frowning after Cloud and clearly preoccupied, but Yuffie caught his eyes and shrugged with a grin. "He's almost as chatty as you, eh? Not as cute though…"

Leon thought it an extremely good idea to leave then.

Cloud hurried from the room trying his best to give the appearance of _not_ hurrying. Tifa could be preternaturally observant when it suited her and the last thing Cloud wanted was to have to start explaining the past couple of months to her. And aside from anything else, right now he felt uncomfortable in his own skin. It tingled; seeming to hold no regard for the actual room temperature as it brought Cloud out in goosebumps one moment before feeling unbearably hot the next. With any luck a shower could at least rid him of the worst of this sensation.

The bathroom was at the end of the hallway. Cloud made his way inside and locked the door, taking a moment to lean on it as he frowned at the wood. His thoughts were all over the place and there were large gaps in his memory that made the blond feel decidedly uneasy. And then there were all the other thoughts that Cloud wasn't a hundred percent sure were even his own. For instance, as he stood with his eyes closed and his forehead resting against the smooth grain wood of the door, Cloud knew that the dark-haired man from the bar last night was all but fleeing Yuffie and heading for the street outside. He also knew that the man had paused on the stairs that led to the bar to readjust his hair into a style that covered the bulk of the scar that marred his forehead. If Cloud concentrated, he felt that he could know even more about the other man, but even the idea of that made his blood run cold. The brunet had reeked of power in the same way that Sephiroth did and Cloud needed a while to work out just what that meant.

Opening his eyes again and shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear his thoughts, Cloud resolutely turned on the shower and began to remove his clothes as he waited for the water to heat up. An accidental glance in the mirror as he pulled his shirt off made Cloud do a double-take as he noticed the black mark on his shoulder.

Moving closer to the mirror, Cloud twisted his torso to bring his shoulder blade into view. There was some sort of design tattooed into the skin there, but working out what it was supposed to be was difficult for it was clear that the artwork had only been partially completed. What there was formed a semi-circle, implying that the finished design would have been circular. Cloud stretched an arm to try and brush his fingers across the scar tissue that had been stained black with ink and suppressed another involuntary shiver as memories of Nibelheim and its aftermath tried to intrude. When had this been done to him and why couldn't he remember?

Dim recollections stirred of Cloud waking up face down on some sort of operating table with a burning pain in his shoulder. He remembered struggling and a fight, but there had been a weight on his back that had thrown his balance. Cloud tried to recall more detail, but the memory faded altogether. Rather than head over to the nearest wall, Cloud hit his forehead with the heel of his hand instead. He could deal with this; he'd been through worse. Right now, he just needed to get cleaned up and then he could focus on the biggest of his current problems. Which would involve having to talk to Tifa.

Cloud hurried finished shedding his clothes and stepped into the shower. He let the water soak through his hair and refused to focus on anything but the task of making himself feel clean.

Once again dressed and feeling much better after the shower, Cloud hesitated at the entrance to the bar as he mentally debated his chances of simply sneaking back out onto the streets. He turned away from the bar just as there was a delicate clearing of the throat from behind him. Cloud spun to find Tifa watching him with a mixture of exasperation and affection as she stood a couple of steps behind him. "Head on in Cloud," she told him in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. "There's no one else there. I sent Yuffie out with Rude and Reno to let the others know that you're okay. So whatever you want to tell me; it'll go no further. Okay?"

Mute, Cloud could do little other than nod as he was all but herded into the bar by a very determined Tifa. She sat Cloud down at one of the booths and left him for a moment before returning with a large pot of steaming tea and two mugs. "I know once I start hearing what you've been up to, I'll be wishing I brought the whisky over," she informed the blond as she poured out tea for the both of them. "But there's no harm in pretending we're not shameless alcoholics every now and then, hmm?"

Cloud managed to muster a faint smile as he curled his fingers around the china and let the heat seep into them. He was so preoccupied with staring at his reflection in the liquid that Cloud was unaware Tifa was waiting for him to start talking until she cleared her throat again. Cloud glanced over at her briefly. "What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.

"A fair bit, to be honest," Tifa answered bluntly. "Where you've been these last few months, what the hell happened to you, why did you suddenly show up looking like death warmed over and how do we fix it?"

Though it didn't show outwardly, Cloud felt a little of his worry ease on hearing Tifa's unthinking assumption that she'd be helping Cloud with whatever was causing him trouble. Simply knowing that he wasn't on his own made everything seem a little less likely to overpower him. Cloud took a deep breath and tried to organise his thoughts into coherence. "Organisation XIII's been rounding up people involved with SOLDIER."

Tifa swore under her breath. "I might have known those bastards were behind this. How did they find you? Surely according to the records you were never in SOLDIER?"

Cloud nodded. "I'm listed as a reject, so I'm not sure how they managed to track me down. But they did."

"Which can only mean they have access to the files from the Shinra mansion at Nibelheim," Tifa concluded. She drummed her fingers on the table as she thought over the implications while taking a large swallow of tea. From the involuntary wince, Cloud guessed that Tifa had momentarily forgotten that she wasn't drinking cold alcohol. Tifa shot Cloud a warning look that prevented the blond from showing his amusement, but the smile hovering about her mouth proved that the glare was just for show. It abruptly faded as Tifa returned to the subject at hand. "So how did they catch you? Did they hunt you down or was it opportunistic?"

Cloud felt the last hints of amusement abruptly fade and he took a drink of his own tea in an attempt to hide his discomfort. A sigh from Tifa told him that the act was unsuccessful and Cloud clenched his jaw before all but forcing the words out. "I don't remember." Cloud took a deep breath and met Tifa's concerned gaze. "My memory … it's been failing. I've been having blackouts. One minute I was leaving Wutai with a delivery of hand-painted silks and the next … I was there."

"There?" Tifa prompted.

"Back in a tube," Cloud ground out. Tifa's hand reached out to entwine with one of his own and Cloud felt his grip tighten as he thought back. "It was underground. A proper laboratory; not like the one in Nibelheim. There were more of us there, but I didn't recognise anyone. They … they were doing something to us that involved lots of drips and wires."

"Cloud…"

He squeezed Tifa's hand, feeling her immediate response as his friend no doubt searched for a way to reassure them. "I think I blew up a good portion of the lab. Everything turned into chaos so I used the chance to escape."

Tifa summoned a smile onto her face. "They obviously didn't read their notes well enough or they'd have known that you were pretty good at escaping from captivity."

Cloud smiled back, but it was a rather weak effort that quickly faded. He didn't feel like explaining to Tifa how he found Fenrir parked neatly outside and had to fight the crippling fear that he'd delivered himself to them in a puppet-like trance. How he feared that he was losing control of himself once again and how also, once again, there was a faint presence in the back of his mind.

Tifa was still focusing on what he'd told her. "So what were they up to? If Organisation XIII really is dedicated to stamping out this so-called wychcraft, it makes no sense for them to experiment on a bunch of SOLDIERs. You were all exposed to Mako, but that doesn't fit with their claims of wychcraft being naturally generated."

"I don't think they considered us wyches," Cloud admitted. "They were after something else. Besides…"

Tifa raised an eyebrow and tugged at Cloud's hand. "Besides?"

"I can still work magic," Cloud confessed in a low voice. "Without Materia."

Tifa frowned. "But how? And wouldn't that prove you to be a wych?"

Cloud shook his head. "Wyches have unlimited power. I … I'm like a battery. I can work magic, but once it's run out then it doesn't replenish. And if I use too much, it drains me."

Tifa's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Last night in the bar. You were looking half-dead because you'd used too much magic? Cloud, what were you thinking, putting yourself at risk like that?"

"I had to get away," Cloud defended himself. "I wasn't thinking about the side-effects."

"Well that explains the way you were passed out this morning," Tifa mused before pinning Cloud with a questioning stare. "But if you can't recharge then how the hell did you manage to wake up at all? In fact, how can you be sitting here listening to me chewing you out?"

Cloud swallowed and pulled his hand away from Tifa's as he felt himself retract at the question. On waking, Cloud had been asking himself much the same thing and as vague memories of last night returned to him, he had found the answer. And it was one that both shamed and terrified him. Cloud raised both his hands and rubbed them over his face. "I did something I shouldn't have."

"Cloud?" Tifa leaned forward in concern, but stopped when the blond shrank away from her. "Cloud, what did you do?"

"I think I'm turning out like Vincent," Cloud muttered. "I fed on someone."

Tifa frowned in puzzlement. "You what?"

"I can't explain it better than that," Cloud said. "I just sensed a source of energy and it drew me in. Then I … took some. What if I start loosing control and transforming like Vincent? I'm not sure I could keep control of myself."

"Cloud," Tifa's calm voice cut through the state Cloud was working himself into. "Cloud, calm down. We can sort this out. If you've managed to not turn into any sort of rampaging beast while escaping from captivity, then I doubt you're going to start now."

Cloud looked up to see Tifa smiling at him and felt himself begin to relax a little more. "No … I just threw around a lot of Ice spells," Cloud admitted before frowning. "And maybe one Ultima."

Tifa groaned and dropped her head to bang against the table surface. "Never one for doing things by half, were you?" Peering up, she caught a glimpse of the beginnings of a smile on Cloud's face and straightened once again. "So whatever was done to you has resulted in this ability to 'feed' or whatever we're going to call it? Do you feel the need to do that at the moment?"

Cloud considered this. "No. There's no energy sources nearby," he replied before rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, this is making no sense."

"Don't worry, just explain it as best you can," Tifa reassured him. "So you fed off Leon? Would that be why he passed out on top of you earlier?"

Cloud felt his cheeks colour. "Must have been. I wasn't even aware of doing it that time. But last night in the bar as well."

"Right," Tifa mused. "So … is Leon going to return the favour as it were? Do you think he's going to need to pull something similar?"

Cloud shook his head. "No," he answered immediately. "He's different."

Tifa raised an eyebrow as she cocked her head slightly to one side. "That was an awfully quick answer," she said. "Different how?"

Cloud shrugged. "I can't explain it. But I just know."

"Interesting," Tifa murmured as she leaned back. "We're going to have to keep an eye on Leon when he gets back, I think. See if we can shed anymore light on this."

"What are you going to tell him?" Cloud asked, trying to sound unconcerned but still aware of the nervous tremor in his voice. "I don't think he'll take too well to finding out I mistook him for a midnight snack."

Tifa grinned. "I doubt you'd get any discernible response from that one. He's as bad as you are when it comes to social interaction. Possibly worse in fact, as he gets snarly when pushed too far. You at least can be beaten down into attempting to be a little outgoing every once in a while." With a loud exhalation of breath, Tifa gathered up the tea and mugs as she rose from the table. "Guess it's about time I started getting the bar ready for business. You got any plans for today?"

Cloud considered this with a small smile. "Other than moping?"

"Cute as you look while doing that, I don't consider that a valid response. Nice try though."

Cloud shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Fenrir sustained some damage while I was making my way here. I should probably look the engine over and see what parts I need to buy off Cid. Other than that; I want to keep a low profile for a while. At least until I work out what's going on in my head."

Tifa nodded in understanding and shot Cloud a reassuring smile. "We'll work through this, Cloud. We saved a planet; surely after that anything else should be a walk in the park?"

Cloud actually managed to return the smile, brief as it was. "Thanks Tifa." He watched the brunette bustle away before leaning his head back and letting his eyes slide closed. The smallest amount of concentration and he could sense that the dark-haired man from last night was currently on his way out of Sector Seven and generally keeping to the shadows. Cloud felt a frown crease his forehead. He hadn't mentioned to Tifa the fact that he could still sense the other man in his thoughts and he wasn't entirely sure how he could broach the subject. Cloud opened his eyes again as he rubbed a hand across his face and rose from his seat. What had he managed to do now?

Leon made his way back to the Seventh Heaven bar unsure as to whether he should regard today as a success or not. Staying unnoticed while listening in to other people's conversations certainly avoided the problems of yesterday, but Leon had no way of steering the conversation towards anything useful. As a result he was more than filled in on all the various ongoing relationships and rivalries that were currently ongoing in Midgar, but had found out little concrete facts about Organisation XIII other than the odd muttered aside. Whatever they were up to, it was clear that they had made people nervous and from the few asides he'd heard, Leon felt that they probably had good reason.

A glance at his watch showed that there was still little over an hour before the bar opened officially for the evening. Tifa had already informed him that he was welcome to show up whenever though, and so Leon made his way inside on the off chance that there would be someone there and he could grab a drink.

The only current inhabitant was the blond man from earlier, sat by himself at one of the booths and staring intently at an untouched glass of whisky, the half-empty bottle sat beside him. Leon paused for a moment as he studied the blond, unwilling to intrude on someone else's privacy. But there was a strange tugging sensation at the back of his mind that was urging him to head into the bar. It was hard to describe, but Leon couldn't shake the feeling that his company would not be unwelcome.

Leon cleared his throat as he made his way inside to alert the blond to his presence. The other man looked up at the sound and exposed Leon to that strange glowing gaze once more. Leon nodded to the empty side of the booth. "Mind if I join you?"

"Please."

Leon snagged a glass from the bar before he moved to sit down opposite the other man and extended a gloved hand. "We were never properly introduced, were we? I'm Leon."

The other man's eyebrows twitched towards each other as though about to form a frown before thinking better of it. Instead the blond returned the handshake by reaching out with his own hand, also currently encased in leather. "Cloud."

Releasing the other man's hand, Leon took a moment to study Cloud, noting that although the blond's skin was still pale, it had lost the unhealthy pallor and dark circles from the night before. "You're looking a lot less likely to collapse from exhaustion now."

Cloud's mouth quirked upwards in a small smile as he lowered those strange, blue eyes to study the wood grain of the table. "Sorry, I'm not usually like that; fainting and everything. It can't have been a very good first impression."

Leon nodded, vaguely aware that his mouth had taken control of the conversation without any apparent input from his brain. "You were the one being chased yesterday, weren't you? By the guys on motorbikes."

Cloud's eyes widened. "What?" He opened his mouth as though to say something else, but visibly thought better of it and fidgeted for a few moments, spinning the glass of whisky in his hands. Leon was familiar with the gesture. It was one he did himself when lost in thought. "No one was supposed to have seen that," Cloud said eventually.

Leon shrugged. "You were a bit hard to miss, riding at that speed through the centre of a busy street. I was amazed you didn't hit anything. That's quite some skill, you've got."

"Thank you," Cloud mumbled, though he was clearly preoccupied.

"You know, if you need help in hiding from those guys who were after you; I can probably be of some help," Leon found himself saying. "SeeD might specialise in resolving conflict in a touch more direct fashion, but we've all done a fair amount of work keeping people safe from the bad guys."

Cloud tilted his head slightly to the side. "SeeD?"

"The organisation I belong to," Leon clarified, wondering why the hell he was so chatty all of a sudden. "Technically we're an army for hire, mercenaries if you want to be crude about it; but lately we've been doing a lot more of protection stuff. Peacekeeping now there aren't any Sorceresses intent on taking over the planet and generally making sure no one else tries to."

"I haven't heard much about Sorceresses," Cloud admitted as he propped his chin in one hand. "It seems everyone from your side of the world seems a little too intimidated to talk about them."

Leon leaned further across the table as he shrugged. "Sure, they were powerful; it was a Sorceress that achieved Time Compression after all, but that got them a lot of bad press. There were some evil ones, power-mad and out to destroy the world … that sort of type. But they weren't all like that. Rinoa … none of us would have been here if it hadn't been for her. I'd still be trapped in some sort of Limbo … then there's Matron and Sis, I mean Ellone…"

Cloud was watching Leon with a strange expression. "You seem to have encountered quite a few Sorceresses even taking your profession into consideration."

Leon considered this with a somewhat twisted smile. "Yeah, I seem to be a regular magnet for them. No wonder I became a Knight."

"Knight?"

Leon glanced up to see Cloud was watching him closely, obviously intrigued by the discussion. "Yeah, every Sorceress has to have a Knight. He has to protect her and in return, he gets more powerful. And then there's this bond between the pair … it's hard to explain."

"Sounds like Wychkin," Cloud murmured, colouring slightly when he saw Leon's surprised expression. "Not that I'm saying these Knights are animals or anything. Rather, if Wychkin were human, I'd suppose the closest thing to compare them to would be Knights. Choosing a Master and then remaining loyal."

Leon snorted. "Now there's a difference, right there. Knights don't get to choose. They get chosen."

"It's not voluntary?" Cloud enquired.

Leon pulled a brief face. "There're those who seek it out. It does have a romantic ring to it and there's countless stories and plays about the endangered Sorceress and her valiant Knight, but at the end of the day, if a Sorceress chooses you; that's it."

"Oh," Cloud's voice was quiet as he swirled his whisky in the glass before taking a gulp. The alcohol made him wince slightly and he screwed up his eyes before opening them again to glance at Leon. "I don't think I'd like that much. I've had enough of being someone's puppet."

Leon finally reached out and poured himself some whisky. "I can drink to that. From now on, I make my own choices about my life."

Cloud's lips curled up into a remarkably soft smile as he clinked his own glass against Leon's. "Absolutely. Cheers."

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't start drinking before the rest of us! That's just rude!"

Cloud let out a quiet groan as his head hit the table. "Hello Yuffie."

"Hello to you as well, Spikey! Man you gave us all a fright showing up like that last night." The young brunette immediately draped herself over Cloud's rigid back as she bounced over to their booth. "Aww, I'm just glad you're alright." Then she straightened and released Cloud only to administer a brutal-looking slap upside his head. "Don't you dare worry all of us like that again!"

"Yuffie, stop attacking Cloud." More people filed in through the doorway, led by the aging man from last night who was chomping on a cigar as he glared at the young girl. "The kid was half-dead this morning so let's give him at least the rest of the day to recover." His gaze was transferred to Cloud. "Good to see you up and about again, kid. When you're done gathering your strength, you should probably do something about that monstrosity you call a motorbike. If anyone's still looking for you, it's a pretty big giveaway."

Cloud nodded as he rose from his seat. "I was just about to check the damage. How are you stocked for parts?"

Cid made a rude noise as he made a dismissive gesture. "If I haven't got 'em, I'll be able to get them a damn sight quicker than you. Just let me know what you need."

Cloud dipped his head again in another nod as he left the bar. Leon turned back to his drink. But he could hear the heavy tread of the other man's boots as he headed out into the street. Quite a feat considering the volume at which Yuffie was trying to cajole alcohol out of Tifa. Leon shook his head slightly as he tilted the glass to catch the last few traces and caught Tifa's eye as he lowered the glass once more.

Not waiting for any verbal response, Tifa leaned across the table with a faint smile. "So Cloud finally managed to come out of his shell enough to talk with you. He might not look it, but he's horribly shy around people he doesn't know. You might just have set a new record in getting past his barriers."

Leon couldn't really think of any way to respond to that besides a distant 'Hn'. His grunted reply seemed to amuse Tifa greatly rather than offend the brunette for though she left him to his own devices, she had a distinct smile on her face as she turned back to talk to Yuffie and Cid. Leon watched her turn away with a faint frown. It was probably all in his head, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling that on some level Tifa was trying to encourage him to befriend Cloud. Leon mused as to the reasons why that would be. The most obvious was that she wanted to find out what had caused the blond male to show up in her bar in such a state and for some reason she thought Cloud was more likely to confide in a virtual stranger than his friends. It wasn't a ridiculous notion; Leon had been all but doing that during his conversation with Cloud before they'd arrived in.

Leon reached for the bottle to pour himself another shot of whisky, but froze as his heart suddenly seemed to clench in his chest and a cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Dropping his hand quickly, Leon stared down to find that both were trembling and he clenched his hands into fists in an effort to get them to stop. Leon frowned. His sudden increased pulse rate and tensed muscles indicated fear, but he couldn't think what he'd done that could have caused such a strong emotional reaction. All he wanted to do was pour a drink, why was he all but giving himself a heart attack?

Glancing up at the others in the bar, Leon was relieved to see that none of the others had appeared to notice his abrupt freezing. Taking deep breaths and forcing himself to calm down from whatever random and imagined fear startled him so, Leon suddenly felt his attention wander to the steps that led out of the bar and down to the street.

"Leon? Are you alright?" Tifa's concerned voice broke into his thoughts and Leon turned in surprise to find he'd already left his seat and was now heading out of the bar.

Leon opened his mouth to respond, but felt his heart spasm again. "He's in trouble. I have to go." The words fell from his mouth without any conscious intervention of his brain and as he said them, Leon realised he knew exactly what was going on. Cloud was in trouble and all but terrified. Just how he knew this information could obviously take a back seat to that overriding problem for now.

Leon took the stairs two at a time, leaping down them in a handful of strides before bursting out onto the street outside. His eyes fell on the hulking motorcycle that clearly belonged to Cloud and the tools that were still scattered around it before drifting to the left where the blond stood with his rigid back to Leon. Leon was at Cloud's side in a matter of instants, but the blond seemed unaware of the company as his gaze was fixed on a point further down the road.

Following the gaze, Leon saw a figure standing just beyond the circle of illumination provided by a streetlight. It didn't prove too much of a hindrance, for the man's pale skin and silvery hair seemed to all but glow on their own. His unnaturally green eyes certainly did, reminding Leon in a strange way of Cloud's blue eyes. The man didn't appear to be making any threatening gestures, simply choosing instead to stand and stare at Cloud, but Leon knew better than to dismiss the man. He got much the same feeling from the stranger as he had on that assassination mission in Galbadia and that had entered with shards of ice through his chest, nearly piercing his heart. And it wasn't just due to the form-fitting black the man wore, it was the expression on his face that reminded him strongly of Edea when she'd been controlled by Ultimecia.

"Cloud," the man said in a low voice that left Leon in no doubt that this was someone who was used to being obeyed without question. "You shouldn't have run away from us. You have nowhere else to go."

Cloud didn't respond, but from his spot right beside the blond, Leon saw the way the other man's jaw clenched even as his breathing sped up. Cloud was completely lost to everything but the other man, it seemed, even though his skin was breaking out in goosebumps as the temperature dropped. Leon was already wishing he'd grabbed his jacket even as he cursed himself for not bringing the gunblade. For some ridiculous reason, he'd not felt that it had been needed as he'd made his way out of the Seventh Heaven bar in all that rush. A dull ache in his chest area made Leon shift his stance slightly, shaking off the memories of his first real SeeD mission. There was nothing to suggest this was going to end with magic, after all, it no longer existed.

Movement from in front caused Leon's attention to immediately snap back to the unidentified man as he stretched out a hand. "Come back with me now. Your presence is needed for the Reunion."

Cloud's forehead had creased into a frown. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're supposed to be dead."

The man laughed and began to move forwards. Leon felt rather than saw Cloud's flinch and decided this had gone on long enough. "Who are you and what do you want?" Leon demanded.

The man's green gaze slid over to Leon and it was clear that the stranger didn't care much for what he saw as his perfect face twisted in anger. "So you're the reason Cloud's still resisting. He's mine."

"Really? I don't see your name on him," Leon shot back without any real thought.

The man laughed. "Clearly you've not been looking hard enough." He continued to advance with the almost lazy grace that only the truly dangerous opponents ever used.

Leon moved into a fighting stance even as Cloud moved beside him. Drawing up one hand to his mouth, Cloud tugged his leather glove off with his teeth before glancing at Leon out of the corner of his eye. There was a flicker of hesitation before Cloud's expression hardened. "Sorry," the blond whispered before he abruptly reached out and pressed a hand to the back of Leon's neck.

It was hard for Leon to be absolutely sure what happened next. The cold had obviously done something strange to his brain for he was almost positive he felt something warm, yet leathery brush against his face. There was the sound of wings and what Leon was convinced looked like magic flying about. Then there was a moment of protective aggression when Leon realised that Cloud was no match for this man and raised his hand. Then the man was falling backwards, shot full of spears of ice and disappearing in a shower of black feathers.

Leon wavered on his feet, only vaguely aware that Cloud was attempting to steady him. He was finding it hard to focus and feeling both very cold and very tired. He went to take a step back towards the bar, but abruptly found himself on his knees staring at the pavement and trying very hard to pass out. Beside him, he could sense Cloud worrying over him.

"It's strange," Leon heard himself say as though he was speaking from somewhere very far away. "I always seem to end up passing out after fighting sorceresses. Didn't think it would be the same for the male version. Least he was the one shot with ice this time."

Then Leon felt his eyes roll back as he gave in to the exhaustion and simply passed out.

TBC

Leon: Hmmm, there's something familiar about all this.

Cloud: Familiar? That'll be me.

Leon: Ah.

Author: Damn it, forgot to work in the smooching. Maybe next time. Seriously, there'll be one more part to this in which all will be revealed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)**

_I've been watching your world from afar_

_I've been trying to be where you are_

_And I've been secretly falling apart_

_Unseen_

_To me, you're strange and you're beautiful_

_You'd be so perfect with me_

_But you just don't see_

_You turn every head but you don't see me_

_I'll put a spell on you_

_You'll fall asleep_

_Yeah I'll put a spell on you_

_And when you wake_

_I'll be the first thing you see_

_And you'll realise that you love me_

Aqualung

Shifting Leon's unconscious bulk to a more secure position across his shoulder, Cloud ascended the stairs of the Seventh Heaven bar as quickly as he could while still remaining relatively quiet. Everything was beginning to make sense to the blond and he needed a few minutes to himself to both absorb what was going on and how best to deal with it from this point. The last thing he needed was attempting to explain everything to worried friends prone to overreaction. Hell, Cloud could barely explain it to himself; he doubted anyone else was going to believe him.

The blond passed by the entrance to the bar and breathed an inward sigh of relief when the voices of his friends failed to break off from the rather colourful conversation they all seemed to be engaged in. Cloud heard both his own and Leon's names mentioned and immediately had no wish to hear anything further. He knew exactly what sort of mind Yuffie had. Cloud had managed only a couple more steps, when he heard light footsteps heading towards the stairwell.

"Leon? Finished checking up on Cloud?" Tifa stepped out of the bar, one hand still absently polishing a glass with a cloth and froze when she saw Cloud carrying the unconscious man. Her dark eyes widened before abruptly narrowing and Cloud could hear the interrogation that was forming behind the woman's lips.

Turning to face her fully, Cloud shifted one hand away from supporting Leon to briefly press a finger against his lips in a plea for silence. He couldn't cope with the others finding out at the moment and he hoped Tifa would be understanding enough to let Cloud avoid a public question and answer session.

Catching the blond's gesture, Tifa paused and pressed her lips into a thin, white line. With a sigh she nodded curtly, shooting Cloud a look that told him in no uncertain terms that this was a temporary reprieve and there were going to be some serious questions when she saw him next. Cloud nodded back, chancing a small, hesitant smile, before quickly turning and hurrying up to Leon's room. He heard Tifa re-enter the bar and casually brush off the enquiries of the others and breathed a sigh of relief.

Placing Leon carefully on the bed, Cloud leaned over the man to study his condition. What he saw didn't reassure him.

Deeply unconscious, Leon's form was wracked with constant tremors as though shivering from the cold. His skin had paled to almost match Cloud's complexion, though with an unhealthy, clammy sheen. Even as Cloud watched, the moisture on Leon's skin crystallised into tiny frost crystals. The man's lips were a pale blue and his breath formed small clouds on each exhalation.

Anxiously, Cloud reached out to rest a hand against Leon's forehead, but flinched back when the skin on skin contact with his bare hand resulted in the ice crystals growing larger with an audible cracking sound. Cloud stared before hurriedly moving away and ripping open drawers and cupboards in order to find blankets or some way of warming the man up.

Running footsteps up the stairs informed Cloud that Tifa was on her way and sure enough the woman burst into the room scant moments later.

"Cloud? What's happened? He just suddenly got up and ran out muttering something about you being in trouble." Pausing in the doorway, the brunette instantly noticed Leon and audibly sucked in her breath. "Cloud…"

Moving onto the next set of drawers, Cloud glanced over his shoulder before turning to his task. "Blankets."

"What?" Tifa approached the bed and frowned at Leon's unconscious figure in worry. "Cloud, he's covered in frost…"

Slamming the drawer shut, Cloud rose to his feet and turned Tifa to face him. "He needs blankets and I don't know where they are."

Tifa paused for a moment before her practical nature kicked in and she immediately set to getting Leon completely swathed in every spare blanket she could find. Cloud watched the way she immediately took charge of the situation with a small smile of relief. It was one of the things he'd really grown to respect about his childhood friend; awkward questions would always be left until the situation was under control.

Now all Cloud had to worry about was just how he was supposed to answer the aforementioned questions satisfactorily. He had a hunch, but he doubted Tifa would appreciate Cloud testing it. Namely as it involved skin on skin contact with Leon and seeing if the other man got even colder as a result. It was as though Leon was literally giving Cloud the cold shoulder.

Cloud paused, and rethought his last words. Maybe not so much a cold shoulder as a general way of warding Cloud away from Leon? Cloud swore under his breath as he raked a hand through his blond hair in agitation. Of course, the brunet had to have been aware of Cloud drawing power from him in order to fight Sephiroth and he probably hadn't been very well prepared for the experience thanks to Cloud's distinct lack of warning before jumping right in with drawing on the other man's magic. This was no doubt a reaction from that. Cloud pressed his hands against his face and wondered if it was possible to disappear.

"Cloud? I've got every blanket in the building heaped on top of him and he's not warming up. What the hell is wrong with him?"

Cloud slid his fingers apart to stare mournfully at Tifa through the cracks. "It's all my fault."

Tifa fell silent, studying first Cloud and then Leon. Understanding dawned. "You did that thing again, didn't you? Drawing on his power source or whatever."

Letting his hands fall slowly back down to his sides Cloud nodded as he wrapped his arms around his middle. "I didn't see what else I could do. There wasn't really time to explain things to him, so I just apologised and … well…"

Frowning, Tifa placed her hands on her hips in disapproval. "Cloud…"

Knowing better than to stay silent under that particular look – especially when that familiar pair of leather gloves were dangling from one of Tifa's pockets, Cloud took a deep, fortifying breath. "I'm not sure, but I think this is a reaction against my … intrusion. He's trying to get rid of me."

Tifa looked back at Leon. "But … you're not still feeding from him, are you?"

Cloud's arms tightened around his thin frame. "I don't _think_ I am. It's probably a delayed reaction … but I can't think how to stop it."

"Why the ice?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shrugged. "I think it's the element he has the most affinity with. I found myself naturally using ice spells with the power I pulled from him."

Tifa snorted. "Figures. The two of you are a good match for each other." With a sigh, Tifa leant over Leon and cautiously tried to rub some of the frost from the man's skin. "Now we just have to work out how to get this one's defences back down." At the lack of response from Cloud, Tifa's back stiffened for a moment before she sagged and sighed once more. "And there's more you're not telling me."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologise, just realise that I'm on your side here!" Tifa snapped before turning to face Cloud. "Look, Cloud, surely you know by now that we're not going to judge you. If there's something that's bothering you, then tell us. We're your friends and we'll help you, we're not going to turn our backs on you. No matter what it is."

Cloud managed to drum up a faint smile. "Thanks."

Satisfied that she had successfully averted Cloud from moping any more than was strictly necessary, Tifa nodded to herself before turning her attention back to Leon. "Right. First of all we need to establish if you are indeed still drawing power from him, consciously or not. How can we do that?"

Cloud frowned as he considered the question. "I guess … I just concentrate on my own reserves. If I'm still using magic on some level, then I should slowly be draining my power levels."

Tifa tilted her head. "What about if you're not?" Seeing Cloud's hesitation over an answer, she sighed heavily. "This is another of the things you've yet to tell me, isn't it? Fine, forget I asked. It can wait until wychboy here is conscious again."

There was a pause as Tifa simply looked at Cloud in an expectant manner and Cloud gazed rather blankly back.

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Cloud frowned slightly with a questioning expression, clearly not understanding.

Tifa rolled her eyes and counted to ten before she gave into the urge to slap Cloud around the head and see if it improved his mental functions. "Are you still drawing power from him, Cloud?"

Cloud's eyes widened in comprehension and he glanced over at Leon with a faint frown. Then he slid his eyes shut as the creases on his forehead deepened. Concentrating first on the sense of power that still resided somewhere within him, Cloud allowed his attention to transfer to the vague collection of emotions that seemed out of sync with the rest of his consciousness. Dimly he was aware of sinking to his knees as he focused on that part of his mind that remained out of place and found other anomalies. Images of people he was certain he'd never met, memories of events he had never experienced and then he was suddenly surrounded by what he could only describe as a presence.

Time passed, it was difficult to say how long. But Cloud suddenly realised that his eyes had opened again and he was staring directly into Tifa's worried face. Unable to help himself, his gaze travelled back once more to the unmoving form on the bed and Cloud had to fight the sudden urge to be violently sick.

"Cloud? Are you alright? Cloud?" Tifa's hands hovered uncertainly over his shoulders, as though afraid what response touching him might provoke. "What did you do, Cloud?"

"I…" His throat felt as though it had contracted into a small hard lump that bit off the rest of his sentence. Swallowing, Cloud frowned and tried again. "I think I need to go."

Tifa blinked. "What? You're going to leave him like this?"

"He'll be fine," Cloud told her quietly and indeed the ice was already melting from Leon's body. Rising to his feet, Cloud kept Tifa from meeting his eyes by staring resolutely at the floor. "I need to go." He moved past her swiftly, before she could think to grab him or in some way block his exit from the room.

"Where are you going?" Tifa called after him. "Cloud … you don't have to run away from this! We can help."

But what Cloud couldn't tell her was that she wouldn't be able to help and furthermore, he wasn't even sure that he could run away from the mess he had created. He could only try.

* * *

Although his eyes were closed, Leon could smell the distinct fragrance of the flowers which always bloomed by the orphanage. Some part of his mind was protesting that he was supposed to be in the middle of a vast city, miles away from the white-walled building of his childhood, but their scent was unmistakable. He inhaled deeply; savouring the way the floral sweetness was laced with the faintest traces of brine from the nearby sea before opening his eyes.

The sunlight was almost dazzling for a few moments, and Leon instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes from the worst of it as he squinted at the scene before him. There was a figure standing out amongst the pink blossoms, rendered as little more than a silhouette against the strong light and facing away from Leon.

_I'll be waiting here_… 

Blinking, Leon shook his head and saw that rather than the long dark hair and fluttering blue cloth that he remembered so clearly, the figure was distinctly masculine in build and topped with a head of outrageous blond spikes. His eyes no longer narrowed merely as a result of the sun, Leon moved closer to the man he recognised as Cloud.

As he moved alongside the blond, Cloud glanced briefly at Leon from the corner of his eye. There was something terribly sad about his expression, and also a touch guilty. Leon had little more than a moment to notice this however before the blond looked away across the field once more.

"She'd have loved it here." The quietly spoken words were wistful and Leon wasn't altogether sure that they had even been addressed to him. Cloud certainly showed no sign of acknowledging him even as he continued to speak. "You can still see the flowers she grew in that old church. But pink was always her favourite colour and she could only ever manage to grow white and yellow."

"She?" Leon questioned

Another glance lasting mere fractions of a second. "The last of the Cetra. Though she appeared to just be a flower-seller when I met her." A small snort of what could have been laughter. "I called her the town drunk and she hired me to be her bodyguard."

Past tense, Leon noted. Pushing that particular puzzle to one side for the moment, he chose instead to focus on more immediate issues. "Weren't we in Midgar?"

Cloud's features contracted for a moment. "We still are, really. I needed to talk to you though, so I came here. I'm sorry for intruding."

Leon watched Cloud dip into an apologetic bow with a vague frown. As the blond rose, he chanced another glimpse at Leon and obviously found Leon's lack of smiles far from reassuring as Cloud immediately returned his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry for this. I didn't immediately realise what I'd done, I was just desperate," Cloud explained somewhat halting. "He … I had to block him, keep him out of my head while I was so weak. I was pretty much drained so he thought I'd be an easy target. I should have asked you first, warned you, but I panicked and acted instinctively. It's no wonder you reacted so strongly against it."

Leon's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything as he watched the blond wrap his arms protectively across his chest.

"All things considered this is probably yet another stupid thing for me to do, but it's clear you're not going to let me talk to you 'out there'. I don't blame you." The blond paused again to draw in a deep breath as he turned away from Leon. He seemed to be desperate to keep talking, to try and soothe things over before Leon presumably condemned him. Leon however still wasn't entirely sure what the blond was talking about and chose to keep quiet in the hope that the situation might finally be explained.

With hindsight, this was probably a mistake as it seemed that Cloud took his silence for condemnation.

"I want you to know that it's going to be okay," Cloud said with a firm nod of his head that was probably more for the blond's benefit than Leon's. "I know how to fix this. You don't need to worry about any of this anymore. All you have to do is head home. It won't be safe for you in Midgar; you're what they're looking for."

"I thought you were," Leon pointed out, thinking back over everything he'd seen since first encountering the other man.

Cloud's nose wrinkled for a moment as he shook his head. "I'm the black sheep of the family. Just a somewhat rebellious but otherwise insignificant tool. But I could draw them to you and I won't let that happen." Turning his back on Leon, Cloud began to make his way through the field of flowers, becoming a blurry shadow against the sun. "Head home Leon," Cloud called back to him. "Head home and your life will go back to normal. I promise."

* * *

Leon opened his eyes to find Tifa leaning over him and watching gingerly as though he was about to burst into flames or something equally bizarre. He felt strange however; there was a weird sensation that he couldn't quite place, but didn't find wholly pleasant. Other than that, however, he appeared to be fine.

This was obviously also the opinion Tifa had come to as she was looking more relieved by the moment as she straightened up and gave Leon room to sit up in his bed. "I take it you're feeling okay, then?" she asked him pleasantly, though her smile was a touch strained around the edges.

Leon nodded as he looked around the otherwise empty room. He couldn't quite explain it, but he'd half-expected someone else to be there.

Tifa was obviously watching him closely as she cleared her throat. "Cloud was here earlier, but he's not around at the moment. He left a while ago." There again was the tightening of her mouth and Leon surmised that Tifa was not overwhelmingly pleased with this development.

"Oh," he said, feeling that he was expected to contribute something.

Tifa's lips thinned further for a moment as she glared at the wall on the far side of the room, but she didn't add anything to her statement. Obviously she either didn't know where the other man had gone, or wasn't prepared to say, Leon guessed. He also had the impression that this was quite a regular occurrence where the blond was concerned.

Moving away from the obviously thorny issue of Cloud's current whereabouts, Leon cast his mind back to the last things he remembered before he presumably passed out. "There was a man outside the bar threatening Cloud. I think he used magic."

Tifa frowned. "What did he look like?"

"Tall. Long, silver hair and green eyes," Leon said, noting more how Tifa's face drained steadily of colour than anything else. "You know him, then."

To his inner surprise, Tifa suddenly seemed to steel herself and shook her head. "No. Your description reminded me of someone, but he's dead. This person is probably connected to him in some way, but it can't be him."

Tifa looked more like she was trying to convince herself and Leon was about to point this out to her when there was the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. "Squall? Are you in here?" Moments later a slender brunette dressed in summery yellow all but sprang into the room. "Squall!"

Wincing slightly at the enthusiasm, Leon inclined his head a fraction. "Selphie. And it's Leon."

Selphie paused, blinking her cat green eyes at him for a moment. "What happened to you?"

Leon shook his head as he swung his legs to the floor and rose to his feet. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You always say that," Selphie pointed out, her hands placed firmly on her hips before her gaze strayed to Tifa who was still sat on the bed. Instantly her expression turned mischievous and she smiled widely at the older woman. "Oh where are my manners! You must think I'm as bad as Squall here! I'm Selphie."

Tifa shook the proffered hand somewhat cautiously, her eyes flickering over to where Leon stood impassively pretending none of this was happening. "Nice to meet you," she murmured. "Umm, Squall?"

"I don't go by that name anymore," Leon clarified for the confused brunette. He narrowed his eyes at the unrepentant Selphie. "However some of my colleagues refuse to admit the fact."

"Colleagues … are you a member of SeeD as well then?" Tifa asked Selphie politely. Leon awarded the woman extra points for banishing any hint of incredulity from her voice and expression.

Selphie laughed. "Absolutely! Trabia Garden's finest. We're not all silent sourpusses like our fearless leader here. In fact, he's the exception rather than the rule."

"Selphie, what are you doing here?" Leon asked, unwilling to let the conversation continue on its current track.

Selphie's expression switched into a more professional demeanour. "You're wanted back at Balamb. Quistis wasn't pleased to find you'd suddenly taken off like you did either. Especially following a conversation with Seifer."

"I felt it was important," Leon informed her. "But give me a few minutes to get my things together."

"You're leaving?" Tifa enquired, her expression vaguely troubled. "Now?"

Leon nodded, unsure just what response Tifa was hoping for. While he could tell that for some reason she was reluctant to see him leave, he didn't see what she expected him to do instead. In any case, he wasn't actually getting anything done other than passing out at bizarre moments. Sharing his observations with his colleagues back in Balamb and investigating whether anything of a similar nature to this wych-hunting craze had taken hold back home had to be a priority about now.

Selphie was watching Tifa closely, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Don't worry about him, he's always like this," she reassured the older woman. "It might seem like he doesn't care, but he probably just hasn't realised he's being rude and unromantic." Directing a commanding green glare at Leon, Selphie shot him a pointed look. "You're at least going to say goodbye; right, Squall?"

"It's Leon," Leon corrected automatically as he gathered up his things and headed over to the door. He nodded in Tifa's direction. "I'll be in touch. If you need help, let me know."

Tifa turned away from Leon to look out of the window. "I'll pass the message on to Cloud when I see him next."

Leon paused for a moment, not even quite sure why he was hesitating. With a firm mental shake of his head, Leon left the room and swiftly made his way down the stairs.

Reno and Rude were standing at the doorway to the bar, watching his descent. Rude's expression was as unreadable as always, but Reno's eyes were narrowed and the usual mocking smirk was absent from his face. "Leaving, huh?" the redhead commented as Leon passed.

Leon slowed and gave a brief nod. "For now. I've been called back home."

Reno looked as though he was going to say something else, but Rude clamped a hand on the shorter man's shoulder as he leaned forwards slightly. "Have a safe trip," Rude offered as he calmly derailed Reno. Leon and Rude exchanged silent nods before Reno turned on his dark-skinned colleague to give the other man a sustained diatribe about cutting him off in the midst of exuding attitude and Leon carried on down the stairs and out at street-level.

Selphie was leaning against a sporty-looking car, clearly something she picked out personally if the jaunty shade of yellow was anything to go by. She bounced into an upright position as Leon emerged and watched him with a badly suppressed smile as he loaded his few things into the car. Leon ignored his fellow SeeD the entire time it took to stow away a meagre amount of belongings and then turned to face her, inwardly cursing the fact that he always travelled light and therefore was unable to put off this moment any longer.

Seeing that the opportunity was ripe, Selphie wasted no time in getting stuck in. "That was an awfully quick goodbye, Squall."

"Leon," Leon corrected absently as he folded his arms across his chest.

Not deterred in the least, Selphie clasped her hands together loosely and began to swing her arms out in front of her. "The two of you seemed to be getting on well and she clearly didn't want you to go. Are you really just going to waltz off into the setting sun leaving her with nothing more than a brief 'whatever'?"

Leon fought the urge to roll his eyes as he simply turned and climbed into the car. Selphie seemed to interpret his actions as embarrassment for she squealed in delight before making her way over to join him. Once sat in the car beside Leon, she reached over to pat him comfortingly on the knee. "You know I'm pleased to see you melting off some of that ice again, really. It's good to see you finally starting to put the past behind you." Turning the key in the ignition, Selphie revved the engine for a few moment before grinning at the SeeD commander with her hand safely transferred to the handbrake. "The others are going to _die_ when I tell them this, you know. In fact … this calls for a celebration! I'll start organising with the Garden Committee as soon as we get back!"

The hand brake was released and with a squeal of tires and smoke, Selphie swung the car into the road at breakneck speed. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered if there was still time to jump out and head back to Seventh Heaven.

* * *

After his reception amongst the common population of the NWCs, the warmth of the greeting Leon received on his return to Balamb caught him off-guard. He blinked and watched with a certain sense of dislocation as numerous colleagues and fellow SeeDs came up to welcome him back from his trip and enquire after his health. He sent most of them contentedly on their way with a few brief grunts before the low and constant giggling from where Selphie stood at his side registered. Turning, he frowned slightly at her amusement. "Selphie, could you please assemble the others in the usual meeting room? There are things we need to discuss."

Selphie's carefree grin of earlier was abruptly replaced with the serious and focused demeanour of the professional the young woman actually was as she snapped off a sharp salute. "Yes Sir!" she responded, before ruining the look with a quick wink as she ran off to round up their somewhat eclectic band of friends.

Leon watched her go before turning to rub his forehead tiredly with one hand. He paused for a moment when he felt the tensed muscles of a frown and wondered how long he'd been making that expression without realising it. There was still that strange, nagging sensation at the back of his mind that he couldn't really put words to. Perhaps all those strange periods of blacking out had been due to some virus he was coming down with, Leon mused before dismissing the notion. In any case, there was a meeting to attend.

Leon made it all the way to the meeting room without being waylaid by anymore good-natured enquiries after his health which served to improve his mood immeasurably. As he stepped through the doors, there was an expression on his face that could even have been described as close to content.

"Yo Squall, what's all this Selphie's been tellin' us about you gettin' friendly with some hot brunette?"

Leon squeezed his eyes shut as he reminded himself to breathe deeply and calmly. "Hello again, Irvine," he said levelly as he opened his eyes again to meet the gaze of the grinning man across the room from him. "May we start the meeting now?"

"Aww, you're no fun," Irvine protested, leaning back in his seat to watch Leon more easily from under the brim of his cowboy hat. "Don't go keepin' secrets from us. If some chick's melted the Ice Prince of Balamb's heart, then we want details!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about and there's business we need to discuss," Leon said. He shot a glare around the room, inwardly disappointed that it seemed to have lost much of its original effect on his colleagues. Facing down Sorceresses obviously did that to you. Rising above Irvine's attempts to tease him about some supposed fling, Leon cleared his throat and launched straight into his debriefing.

"The reason behind my trip to the NWCs was to investigate the group known as Organisation XIII. They claimed to be dedicated to eliminating a threat known as Wyches, or individuals still capable of working magic through some inner power source."

"Sounds like a Sorceress," Quistis observed with a frown.

Leon nodded, relieved that at least one of the others was paying attention to his words and not speculating about his social life. "In a lot of ways, they sound very similar," he agreed. "However, Wyches are thought to be predominantly male. Whether there's any truth behind these claims, or whether it's nothing more than an attempt at keeping the population cowed is not something I was able to determine. Mainly because rumour and superstition have taken powerful hold and unfortunately my appearance worked against me." Leon paused, noticing the doors at the far end of the meeting room open slightly as Seifer entered the room.

The blond smirked at Leon by way of greeting before casually leaning against the far wall, watching the discussion but making no move to take a more active part. He seemed content to study Leon with an expression Leon found hard to decipher. He watched the man for a few moments until it became clear that no conversation would be forthcoming and turned his focus back to where his friends were discussing amongst themselves exactly what Leon did wrong to arouse suspicion.

"Well, you can't expect the NWCs to understand SeeDs," Zell was saying with his trademark energy. "Squall probably stomped around, glaring at everyone and they thought he was a scary mercenary instead of a highly respected SeeD Commander."

"While I don't think Squall's attitude would have helped to endear him to the populace, I don't think we can make assumptions with little to no knowledge of the sort of superstition that surrounds Wyches," Quistis argued with far more reason. "Observation from a distance to get some feel for local customs was probably the best idea and from here we can send in someone who is less likely to raise suspicion or unduly stand out."

"Well if these Wyches are meant to be guys, then the answer is surely sending in some fine lookin' ladies like yourselves," Irvine drawled as he grinned at Selphie and Quistis. "You can stand and look cute until the Wyches come to you."

Clearing his throat forcefully, Leon cut through the low level of conversation. "There's definitely a situation developing out there," he informed the group. "Though at this time it's hard to know exactly what that may be. More reconnaissance is therefore the minimum that we should be looking into. I made some contacts that I think are worth developing and should provide us with a safe base to work from when we head back."

As the others began to suggest strategies for this, Leon's eyes strayed to the back of the room once again just in time to see Seifer leave. Without even really thinking about how the others would react, Leon immediately moved to follow him. "I'll be back in a while. Let me know what you decide on," he called over his shoulder as he hit the door release. He quickly ducked through just as his departure began to register with the others. There was a brief moment of complaint from Quistis before the closing door mechanism cut her off.

Uncertain of whether someone, most probably Selphie, would be sent to track him down and bring him back to the main discussion, Leon decided to make the most of his headstart and scanned the corridor in both directions for some idea of where Seifer would have headed. Expecting to see little more than the tail-end of the blond's trench-coat disappearing out of sight, Leon had to pause for a moment when he saw the other man leaning against the wall a little way for him, clearly waiting for Leon. Upon making eye-contact with Leon, Seifer pushed himself upright with a small sneer and jerked his head towards Garden's exit. "We need to talk."

With a small nod of agreement, Leon fell into step just behind the other man. He could feel the slight frown from earlier returning to his features as he fought to dismiss the feeling that Seifer knew a lot more about what was going on than he was willing to admit. And he couldn't help but wonder both how Seifer had acquired that information and why he had decided to entrust it, at least partially, to Leon. Was it because he wanted to watch Leon flounder in a situation he couldn't make any real sense of, or did Seifer have another agenda?

With only the smallest acknowledgement that Leon was following behind, Seifer led the two of them out of Garden and towards the small bar where their last meeting had sparked this whole misadventure. Leon lingered for a moment in the doorway, his frown deepening as he watched Siefer make his way to the bar and sit at one of the many empty stools there. The blond calmly ordered a drink from the bored-looking bartender and sipped at the clear spirit he received in return for a few moments before finally glancing over at Leon. "Well? Isn't the fearless leader at least going to get a drink? Or are you going to stand there and pout at me the whole time?"

Moving slowly into the bar, Leon took the stool next to Seifer and gestured for the barman to bring him his usual scotch. "Are you going to tell me precisely what this is supposed to be?" he asked Seifer, his eyes never once straying form the drink in front of him to the blond that sat beside him, sipping vodka.

Seifer snorted. "This is supposed to be two old rivals attempting to behave like the adults they are and discuss things in a civilised manner over drinks," he said. "Of course, if you want something a little more traditional, I can always hammer the message home in the training grounds like old times."

It was Leon's turn to make a dismissive noise. "You wish." He took a drink from the glass in front of him and savoured the burn of alcohol for a moment before turning to face Seifer directly. "You clearly know something about what's going on in the NWCs, or you wouldn't have brought it to my attention to start with. I've got no idea on how to deal with what I encountered out there, so I'd like a straight answer on just what's going on out there … what happened to me … what the hell I'm supposed to do about the situation."

Seifer watched this speech impassively and turned back to stare into his drink when Leon was finished. "You could start by not being such an idiot."

Leon blinked. "Excuse me?"

Seifer made as if to glance at Leon from the corner of his eye while he ordered another drink, but something in Leon's expression made the blond pause. Seifer studied Leon, seemingly looking for something in the other man's face before he turned away to knock his vodka back with a scowl. "I should have known. You can't even see it. How did someone like you get all the breaks anyway?"

Leon would have asked Seifer to explain himself, but Leon had been trying that every time he'd opened his mouth to speak to the blond and it clearly hadn't worked so far. He settled instead for narrowing his eyes into a glare that he trained on the other man until some sort of explanation was forthcoming.

Unfortunately Seifer had never seen the need to play nicely with others and it was clear he had little intention of starting now. Tilting his now empty glass and spinning it on the edge of its base, Seifer seemed content to stare off into the middle-distance. "People talk a lot about that whole Sorceress and her Knight romantic ideal, but there're actually precious few people outside of you and me who'd even have the faintest idea of what the reality entails. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and distinctly lacking in the noble, romantic department too." Seifer winced as he set the glass properly back on the bar. "Though considering it was Ultimecia that was probably a good thing. Even so, the only thing harder than being a Knight is not being able to be one anymore, you know? 'Cause now you're aware of what it feels like to be that linked to someone else and it's gone."

Not quite sure where this sudden confessional was heading, Leon simply sipped at his drink and nodded. "Rinoa at least tried to warn me. The reality was a bit more intense than I had been expecting."

Seifer winced. "Sometimes I wonder how the hell I even manage to not start acting like some emotionally needy idiot. It's … I can't really explain it. It's hollow, but there's an echo. And that's the worst bit because it stops you from being able to ignore it, won't let you forget what it felt like before. No wonder there aren't any stories about ex-Knights." Seifer snorted before glaring at Leon. "But none of this applies to you and you can't even work out why. Idiot."

Leon scowled right back at the blond. "Okay, so I'm not falling apart. Maybe that just means I'm dealing with this better than you."

"You're not dealing with it, _Squall_," Seifer sneered, "because you're not having to deal with it."

"I'm not a Knight anymore," Leon defended, allowing the hated name to slide by without a mention just this once. "I remember what it feels like to be a Knight and I think I'd recognise it if that happened again. And I don't feel any of what I did back then. There's no sense of intrusion, no compulsion at all. I'm in total control."

"That's because that stupid, self-sacrificing bastard gave you the choice," Seifer said. "And like the emotionally stunted Ice Prince you are, you went waltzing merrily on your way. You utter arsehole."

Leon blinked in surprise, his mind suddenly presenting him with images of Cloud of all people. Frowning, he reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "This doesn't make sense. What does this have to do with Cloud? Is he supposed to be a Wych or something?"

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Well at least you're not completely oblivious to the situation, just ignorant enough to come across as a complete bastard. I'm sure he'll appreciate the difference." Leaning forward on his folded arms, Seifer caught the attention of the barkeeper. "Hey, better just bring some bottles our way, okay? I think we're going to need them."

The bottles were deposited before them mere moments later and Seifer wasted no time as he immediately poured himself a large glass of clear spirit. Rather than make any move to drink the vodka, however, Seifer seemed content to swirl the contents of his glass as he frowned into his glass. "Wyches … in all truth, there's every possibility that they existed in both our worlds before the merger, but simply passed unnoticed under the cover provided by Guardian Forces for us and the NWCs' use of Materia. After all, everyone could use magic if they so chose, so who's going to notice if some people develop their skills a little faster … seem a little more adept? It was only when their external source of magic was removed that their abilities came to light. It's unusual, but I doubt it's unnatural. Simply a very rare trait.

"Wychkin though … or rather what's happened to that concept: that's all our fault." Seifer pulled a face and downed his drink.

Leon frowned as the name sparked a glimmer of recognition. "Wychkin … doesn't that have something to do with pets? Animals the Wych uses to spy on others or cast spells, right? I've heard of those, but I don't see where we come into it."

Seifer smiled without humour as he played with his glass. "Word about Sorceresses got out; people started pondering the similarities. There was one difference though: Knights were a very different concept to Wychkin. More powerful, more sense of control. They seemed superior and therefore a lot more desirable than some mere cat or what have you. There was just one problem; to override a person's own individual personality and will took a lot of power. Too much for the intended Wychkin to survive, and from what I hear, it's a really nasty way to go.

"But of course, since when would a zero success rate be enough to stop someone that obsessed with power? I heard rumours about a project that was being undertaken with the intention of making humans into Wychkin; an extra-powerful, supercharged variety that had hit on the secret ingredient. Seems people infused with this pure magical energy that NWCs used to have called Mako were able to handle the transformation process. Whether they were doing it willingly or not was another issue and quite frankly, I didn't exactly picture their test subjects lining up to be made into mindless batteries. But from what I heard about the guy running it, that wasn't ever going to be a real concern."

Seifer paused to refill his glass and glanced over at Leon as he did so. "From the fact that you're not rolling your eyes in disbelief and leaving right now, I'd guess you were either able to work some of this out for yourself or an awful lot of weird shit from before is starting to come clear for you. You've not heard the best bit yet, though. And by 'best bit', I mean 'bit most likely to make you wish you were merely dealing with stroppy Sorceresses again.'"

Leon drained his glass before setting it very carefully back on the bar and turning to meet Seifer's eyes. "And just what would that bit be?"

"So like I said, the whole idea of Wychkin is that a Wych could use one to gain power, but as far as I know there aren't any Wyches actively involved in the project. That's why these Organisation XIII people are desperate to get their hands on them all – it's before they get picked up for this project. Seems the guy behind it is aiming to become a Wych himself, by draining all these Wychkin suckers dry. He wants power, and he's got a taste for it. Apparently he was the best and brightest Mako-infused subject from this SOLDIER project before he went bad. And by all accounts, he really went bad: tried to destroy the world, but got blasted to another dimension by some rag-tag group of unknowns. Wherever he got sent, he managed to gather enough power to make his way back, but it took every ounce. So now he's out to exploit these Wychkin bastards and reopen that door so he can regain his power. I'm guessing, but I'd say it's a safe bet you won't be wanting to deal with him then."

"An accurate summation," Leon remarked calmly, despite the unpleasant conclusions his mind was drawing. "What was this man's name, or does your information not cover that much?"

Seifer grinned without humour as he knocked the last of his vodka out of the glass. "You doubting me, Squall? Guy's name is Sephiroth."

Leon nodded his thanks and rose, tossing the money on the bar as he did so. The image of Cloud as he'd appeared when Leon had first seen him, looking so tired and _drained_ wouldn't disappear from his mind. "I need to head back there. Now."

Seifer snorted as he climbed to his feet behind Leon. "You're telling me."

Leon nodded as he pulled his phone from his jacket. "And you're telling everyone else. I'm leaving you in charge. I'll call if I need you."

As Leon left the bar, he heard Seifer laugh in amusement behind him. "Me in charge? Chicken-wuss is going to flip."

* * *

Night was falling by the time Leon made it back to Midgar, which he took as an advantage to his plans. His scar was less discernable at night, despite the numerous neon lights that flickered above bars and clubs in the area. As a result he attracted a minimum of stares as he moved through streets that still thronged with people regardless of the hour. He ignored them all anyway; the only thing he was focused on were Seifer's words from earlier and an almost indescribable sense of knowing that for whatever reason, he was the one person who truly stood a chance of being able to help Cloud. But back-up had never hurt anyone in a battle and so his first port of call was the Seventh Heaven bar.

The lights were all off when he reached the bar, and to all intents and purposes, the place looked closed. Leon stared up at it, his brow wrinkling in thought and then made his way around the side to the alleyway that contained the back entrance. The monstrosity of a motorcycle that had previously been kept there was gone, something Leon took to be a bad sign. Crossing over to the goods entrance door, Leon raised his fist and pounded on the door as forcefully as he could manage.

He'd swung his arm back for a sixth or so knock when the door flew open, proving that despite appearances, Seventh Heaven was not deserted. Tifa stood there in the doorway, her expression warring between extreme anger and concern. "How dare you just go running off without saying anything…" Her voice trailed off as she realised that the man in front of her wasn't Cloud and if anything, her expression grew more troubled. "Leon," she said, clearly struggling to regain her calm. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."

That strange little sensation at the back of Leon's mind was informing him quite strongly that now was not the time for ignoring the situation in favour of a pleasant spot of chit-chat. "Where is he?" he asked instead, cutting straight to the point with all of his customary tact.

Tifa's expression darkened. "What's it to you?" she demanded tartly. "I don't think this is any of your business. In fact, I seem to remember Cloud going to great lengths to keep you out of his business that you were only too happy to go along with!"

"He's in trouble," Leon stated, aware that the young woman no doubt knew this, but figuring that demonstrating his knowledge wouldn't hurt. "I can tell. Where is he?"

For a moment, Tifa looked achingly vulnerable then the steel core was firmly reasserted and she reassumed her standard no-nonsense demeanour. "I don't know. He just took off a couple of hours ago. He … he didn't look good."

Leon nodded, somehow not surprised that some part of him already knew the information. Deciding to trust a little more in that strange instinct, he stepped back from the doorway. "I'd be ready with potions, there's no telling what state he'll be in."

Tifa's arms folded across her chest and she frowned. "And you're giving me orders why?"

Leon treated her to a brief glance as he moved back to the street. "Because someone needs to take care of things here while I go and get him." Not waiting for a response, he strode back to the street and hopped into the sleek black convertible he'd liberated for the purpose when he'd reached the suburbs. It was strange, but the more attention he paid to that nagging sensation in his mind, the stronger it became and the more confidence he had in it. Whatever it was.

In any case, whatever it was, it was leading him directly towards the hulking fortress everyone in Midgar had named Hollow Bastion. Stuck in the centre of the city, in the ruins of what had once been the Headquarters of a company named ShinRa, the building looked fairly ominous to Leon's trained eye. And that was even before he took the strange swirling dark clouds that seemed to be centring on the building into consideration. They seemed to be having a curious warping effect on the sky that Leon could see through the breaks, making the full moon appear strangely heart-shaped. A cynical guess would have led Leon to conclude that's exactly where Cloud would have ended up, but he would have appreciated this weird sixth sense at least attempting to persuade him otherwise. Leon set his jaw and floored the accelerator.

The outer lying buildings were all deserted, making Leon's less than subtle entrance a whole lot less hassle. Spinning the car to a halt, Leon left it lying by what appeared to be some sort of warehouse as he took off in a run for the wide courtyard he could glimpse through the last few remaining structures. He could see the two figures stood there; one with the blond spikes that could only belong to Cloud and the other the silver-haired man Leon had vague memories of tangling with before.

Neither of the men seemed to notice Leon's approach, possibly due to the more unobtrusive style he had adopted seeing as he was now on foot, but more probably due to the fact that the pair were completely oblivious to anything but the other.

"Your defiance is unexpected, but a useless gesture nevertheless," the silver-haired man was saying, the casual tone of his voice somewhat at odds with the ferocity he was using to attack Cloud. "You will join us in the Reunion and together we shall open the door."

The chime of swords clashing against one another proved that Cloud had been less than won over by this approach, as he fought back with an equally outsized sword – this one much wider than the overlong and slender blade used by Cloud's adversary. "I'm not your puppet anymore, Sephiroth," the blond yelled back as he went on the offensive. "You can't get inside my mind!"

"And just how is it that the Failure is keeping me out?" Sephiroth mused as he dodged a vicious slice to his torso with impossible grace. "Who is blocking me from you?"

Cloud didn't answer, springing away from their locked blades to gather a few moments to catch his breath.

Lowering his sword, Sephiroth reached up to the sky with his other hand. "No matter. The door to darkness is opening."

Cloud had his sword raised and ready to renew his attack, but something checked his movement and instead he staggered back a step. Leon, finally close enough to step out onto the courtyard, paused. Wondering what could have caught Cloud off-guard, he felt his attention drift upwards and felt his jaw start to loosen in shock before he caught himself.

At first it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but as Leon watched he realised that the dark clouds he'd seen swirling above the building as he'd approached were not actually clouds at all. They seemed to be pure shadow, yet there was no sign as to what was casting them. They were also slowly spiralling downwards to envelop Sephiroth's form completely and spread out across the courtyard. As the darkness began to stretch out over the ground, small shapes began to rise up out of it, at first indistinct but then evolving into small, clawed creatures with luminous yellow eyes and antennae type feelings in their heads instead of ears. They took no time in falling upon Cloud in a vicious burst of swiping claws and Leon saw his cue to lend a hand. Unsheathing his gunblade, he quickly took the last ten steps or so that brought him to Cloud's side and promptly slashed through at least four of the black monsters. They dissolved into nothingness as he did so, as did those dispatched by Cloud's sword.

Cloud's strange blue eyes had glanced briefly at Leon, but other than that the man hadn't stopped to greet Leon. Leon had creeping sense that Cloud had always known he was coming as the blond shifted his stance slightly so that he and Leon stood back to back. "Finally decided to step in, then," Cloud commented dryly as they hacked and slashed at their numerous opponents. "I was starting to think you were waiting for an invitation."

"This coming from the man that was all but ordering me to leave the city last time we met," Leon retorted as he fired off a shot from the gunblade to take out the creatures that had been hiding behind the first wave he'd just skewered. "I wasn't sure you wouldn't run off again and leave me to fight these things off on my own."

There was a low growl from over Leon's shoulder. "This is my fight," Cloud muttered stubbornly.

"Yes, and you called in reinforcements," Leon shot back, moving away briefly to crouch into a low spin that took care of at least five of the living shadows. The problem was, the creatures just seemed to keep coming. "Clearly demonstrating your intelligence."

Cloud was certainly holding his own at Leon's back, in both fighting off the enemies and keeping up with the conversation that neither was going to admit sounded a lot like bickering. "I did no such thing! I distinctly remember telling you that I would be handling this myself."

"Yes, and it's all going swimmingly," Leon drawled with a roll of his eyes. "Insane, power-crazed man drawing on the forces of darkness and succeeding … you've clearly got this well in hand. I feel superfluous."

"You're the one that was freezing me out every time I so much as touched you! What else was I supposed to do?"

"How about communicate a little? Tell me what was going on."

Cloud snorted. "Oh. Right. And what was I supposed to say? Hi, I'm your new magically indentured slave - mind if I use you as a power source for a while?"

Leon made full use of another spinning attack to glare briefly at Cloud. "At least asking is better than just taking!"

Cloud's face flushed and his blue eyes narrowed in irritation. "That was not deliberate!" An especially brutal slice through the waves of shadow bodies emphasised the point.

Leon noted that during their argument, the number of strange black creatures had steadily decreased. Unfortunately, Sephiroth seemed to still be drawing power down from the sky. The moon that Leon had noted earlier was still appearing to be heart-shaped, but even stranger was the impression of a vast door that he could see in front of it. And the longer he watched, the more convinced he became that the door was slowly opening.

"We need to stop him before that doorway opens," Cloud said. "I don't know where it leads, but past experience tells me that if Sephiroth wants it open, then it can't be good."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Leon acknowledged, finishing off the last of the shadows.

"Know any good tricks for destroying someone who's on their way to becoming a god?" Cloud asked.

Leon grimaced. "Eden springs to mind, but she's not exactly answering my calls these days. I think Sephiroth's the only one currently capable of drawing on external power sources."

Cloud turned to stare at Leon with an expression that made the SeeD realise what a stupid thing that was to say. "You are aware that the power-drawing thing between the two of us is a two-way process?" he stated.

Leon considered the idea for a moment before remembering how the other man had looked when he'd first seen him and made a change to the plan. "Yeah, but you're the one who's had experience in defeating this guy. You draw on my power and I'll provide back-up."

Cloud blinked and then nodded. "If we can't stop him from opening the door, then whatever happens, don't let him call anything else through it," the blond said. Then he was gone in a series of parries and swooping attacks on the silver-haired man and Leon felt that tugging sensation in the back of his mind once again. This time, for whatever reason, it didn't seem to affect his own awareness and Leon decided to make full use of this by firing off some ice spells to keep Sephiroth from being able to focus fully on Cloud's attack.

Much of the detached awareness of the battle gave way then to the all-consuming instinct that informed Leon when to duck in with a well-timed blow and when to swing back out and throw magic spells in from a distance. He knew Cloud too was lost in that rhythm of attack and defence, given over fully to the rapid trade of blows with Sephiroth.

The silver-haired man was tiring, Leon could detect the traces of fatigue in the way he took a fraction of a second longer to block Cloud's attacks, the slightest hint of less speed in the counter-attacks he launched on the blond. Cloud by contrast appeared able to continue fighting indefinitely, appearing to be using that strange bond with Leon in the fashion of a regen spell. If Cloud hadn't remained alert, he might have missed spotting the opening.

It was such a subtle thing, Leon himself almost missed it. Sephiroth had stepped forwards to put his full weight behind the swing he'd aimed at Cloud's head when he seemed to briefly overreach himself. For the briefest of moments, the silver-haired man's balance was off and he was in danger of tipping forwards. Sephiroth noted the problem in his stance and made to correct it almost instantly, but by then it was too late. Seizing on the chance the moment it was offered, Cloud ducked inside the other man's guard and delivered a decisive blow that all but ran the full length of Sephiroth's body.

There was a flare of magical release and both Sephiroth and Cloud cried out. A solitary leathery black wing erupted out of Cloud's back even as Sephiroth's sported one of graceful feathers. Then as Cloud slumped down to kneel on the ground, leaning heavily on his sword, Sephiroth's form seemed to dissolve into feathers completely. The black feathers swirled around with the almost solid shadows, forming a small whirlwind that spiralled up to the opening doors and through to the darkness beyond.

Then there was the unmistakable sound of doors slamming shut and the strangely shaped moon, the doors themselves and the living darkness were all gone. There were simply the exhausted forms of Leon and Cloud in the deserted courtyard and the gentle sensation of lightly falling rain.

* * *

The rain hadn't taken long to develop into a proper downpour and neither a motorcycle nor a stolen convertible car seemed like very appealing prospects in such weather. Cloud had dragged them both into a partially ruined church to take shelter before returning to the Seventh Heaven bar. At the far end, just before the altar, was a large swathe of flowers growing up out of the floor. Both Leon and Cloud were currently lying next to one another in the midst of the delicately scented blooms and staring up at the ceiling.

"So," Leon said at last. "You're my magically indentured slave, huh?" He tried to keep his voice casual, but he wasn't sure how well he'd succeeded.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed quietly.

"Sorry about that." Leon didn't know if it was the right thing to say, but he couldn't really think of anything else.

There was a pause before the blond next to him answered. "I'm fine with it," Cloud said at last. "Most of the time I'm hardly aware of it and I'm getting better at that energy pulling thing too. Pretty soon I'll probably have stopped altogether."

"Oh," Leon managed.

There was another pause, this one slightly more strained.

"It's probably for the best, really," Cloud said in a rush. "You know what they say, after all – familiarity breeds contempt."

Leon blinked, taken off-guard by the completely lame humour. Then both he and Cloud were laughing, somewhat helplessly amongst the flowers, their merriment echoing around the cavernous building and broken only by the sound of water dripping through the holes in the roof. Leon turned to look at Cloud as he laughed and was suddenly struck by the sight of the blond, completely relaxed with his eyes closed and his mouth stretched wide in a smile. Not really pausing to analyse his thoughts, he simply leaned over and softly brushed his lips against Cloud's like it was the most natural thing in the world. Because, in that moment, it seemed like it was.

Cloud's eyes blinked open at the contact and he stared up at Leon as the brunet leaned over him in surprise. "What was that for?" Cloud asked.

Leon rolled his eyes, aware like never before of that sensation at the back of his mind. The way it seemed to complete him and calm him. "No need to play coy, Cloud," he informed the other man. "We can feel what the other does, or haven't you noticed yet?" The blond's silence was a somewhat guilty one and the flash of vulnerability through that bond made Leon sigh. He reached out a hand and ran it through those overlong spikes, smoothing them away from the face of the blond. "Maybe it's time to admit we quite like it," Leon said with a small smile. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm done with the loner thing."

Cloud's smile was hesitant, but hopeful. "I thought we weren't being coy. You know how I feel about this too."

Leon leaned in to kiss Cloud again, this time long and languid. They broke apart slowly and Cloud frowned up at Leon. "And I do _not_ taste like strawberries!"

Moving in for a third time, Leon begged silently to differ.

Strange and Beautiful: The End

* * *

Author's Note: Sigh. I had so many plans for Sora and Riku, but a certain pair refused to share the limelight for so much as a moment. Ho hum. Also, note to self: when a mere paragraph off from finally finishing this part DO NOT develop a sudden jolt of whimsy and rename the document 'Blah' only to forget ever doing the deed and fail in finding the sodding thing for months. 


End file.
